Dubai International Capital LLC (DIC), Dubai Holding's flagship buyout firm, which has made a string of global acquisitions, including stakes in Airbus parent company EADS, DaimlerChrysler and HSBC banking group, yesterday unveiled a restructuring programme targeted at creating more than $25 billion of assets under management in two years.

Under the new internal restructuring, DIC's investments will be managed by four specialised divisions. These include DIC Private Equity, DIC Global Equities, DIC Emerging Markets, and DIC Asset Management.

The restructuring is intended to empower DIC to have a more specialised approach to its international as well as regional investments, a DIC statement said.

"With four specialised divisions dedicated to specific asset classes, the streamlining will facilitate and enable the company to build on its already impressive record and continue its drive to diversify its portfolio of solid investments around the globe," it said.

Sameer Al Ansari, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dubai International Capital LLC, said DIC's phenomenal growth in the past two years coupled with its ambitions to have over $25 billion of Assets Under Management (AUM) within the next two years has necessitated a restructuring.

"This will allow us to be more focused on asset classes and to attract professionals with deep specialisation in the respective ones. Having specialised divisions to manage and further add to the firm's diversified investment portfolio is in line with our objective to build our position as a leading international investment firm and maintain our leadership position in the region," he said. He said the change puts DIC on the right track to better allocate suitable resources to each specialised division, each with its own defined and dedicated vision and strategy, and will help to attract the right calibre of individuals who will support its ambitious goals for the coming period, he pointed out.



DIC Private Equity will manage and grow the company's portfolio of international buyouts and investments in international private equity funds, in addition to actively seeking new international investment opportunities. DIC has ambitions to grow its AUM in the Private Equity division to over $10 billion from the current $6 billion in under two years. Sylvain C. Denis, previously Head of Direct Investments for DIC, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of DIC Private Equity effective yesterday.

DIC Global Equities will manage all of DIC's global public equities investments that are made directly or through the Global Strategic Equities Fund (GSEF), and further source investment opportunities for the fund which plans to become a leading shareholder in pre-eminent global large capitalisation stocks, whilst simultaneously aiming to create value through long-term exposure to a concentrated portfolio of undervalued companies. DIC anticipates this division to have AUM of $10 billion in the next two years.

DIC Emerging Markets will manage and grow the entity's investment portfolio in the Middle East and North Africa region in addition to all emerging markets, including greater MENA, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Investments are across asset classes varying from buyouts, listed equities, to seed capital investments, single-country and sector-specific funds. Rabih Khoury, Head of MENA Investments for DIC, will now lead the division as Chief Executive Officer of DIC Emerging Markets with effect from yesterday. DIC aims to have AUM of over $5 billion in this division in the next two to three years.

DIC Asset Management, the wholly-owned asset management subsidiary that is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and holds a Category 4 licence to arrange and promote funds, will be providing the marketing and placement platform as well as investor relations for the three main divisions, and will be headed by Samer Al Saifi who recently joined DIC after 21 years at Arab Bank.