Nemir Kirdar, one of the Middle East’s most prominent investors who founded and ran Bahrain’s alternative asset manager Investcorp for more than three decades, has died at the age of 83.
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Nemir Kirdar, Investcorp’s founder, my predecessor, friend, mentor and a great man of virtues and values,” Investcorp’s executive chairman Mohammed Al Ardhi said on Twitter.
“My thoughts at this moment go to his family, his wife Nada and daughters Rena and Serra. May God bless his soul.”
The former Iraqi-British banker set up Investcorp in 1982 and ran it with close confidants he worked with previously at Chase Manhattan Bank, including Salman Abbasi and former Morgan Stanley banker Yusef Abu Khadra.
From the beginning, the company, which was known as the Arabian Investment Banking Corporation at the time, attracted notable names from across the Arab world’s business landscape as it vied to become a serious player from the region in the world of finance and private equity.
Its board read like a who’s who of the Arab world and included Khaled Al-Zayani, Ahmed Al-Mannai, Hussain Al-Fardan, Ahmed Ali Kanoo, Omar al-Aggad, Abdulaziz Al-Sulaiman, Dawood Musaad Al-Saleh, Abdul-Rahim Galadari, Abdul-Rahim al-Atiqi and Mohamed Al Zamil.
“We started with $50 million [Dh183.5m] out of two rooms in the Holiday Inn in Bahrain,” Mr Al Zayani, one of the company’s founding investors, told The National.
“We went around the Gulf to raise capital from merchants and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.”
Kirdar was a “visionary” and redefined how investors from the Gulf invested their wealth, Mr Al Zayani said.
“He wanted us to be involved at the early stages of an investment, to be in the market and not wait until much later,” Mr Al Zayani said.
“He was a great leader and a legend; few like him exist in our part of the world.”
Investcorp came onto the world stage with its 1984 acquisition of Tiffany & Co, which it took public in 1987 and pocketed a profit of at least $100m.
“Tiffany was a big jump for us. It remains the most profitable deal to date, at 600 per cent return on capital,” Mr Al Zayani said.
Over the years, Kirdar’s company made many other stellar investments in companies such as Gucci, Chaumet, Saks Fifth Avenue, Circle K, Breguet, Ebel, Carvel Corporation and Tyrrells.
Under Kirdar, Investcorp would come in, rescue failing or distressed entities that had promise, turn them around and then exit when the time was right.
Over the years, the business lines diversified beyond the company’s famed retail acquisitions and its business model influenced other players in the finance industry.
For many fresh graduates from the Arab world, landing a job with Investcorp became an aspiration on a par with securing a place at Harvard or Oxford.
Investcorp, which counts Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company as its biggest shareholder, made over 195 private equity deals since inception in the US, Europe, Asia and the Mena region.
It has also made more than 800 commercial and residential real estate investments in the US and Europe, with a total transaction value of $61 billion.
Kirdar “was a legend,” Abdulla Al Zamil said, whose father served on Investcorp’s board.
“He was the father of private equity in the Gulf. No one knew what it was, and he took it upon himself to localise it in Bahrain,” Mr Al Zamil, chief executive of Zamil Industrial and chairman of Gulf International Bank KSA, said.
Kirdar, who made Investcorp a conduit for Gulf investors interested in acquiring international assets, left his post as chairman upon retirement in October 2017. He had stepped down as chief executive in 2015.
When Kirdar left, the alternative investment manager had about $21.3bn in total assets under management including assets managed by third parties.
Investcorp suffered its first and the only annual loss in 2009, after the 2008 financial crisis.
It quickly bounced back and returned approximately $7bn to investors between 2009 and 2015, according to the company’s website.
“For over three decades, he generated exceptional and consistent returns for Investcorp’s clients and shareholders, establishing the firm as a titan of the Gulf investment community,” Mr Al Ardhi said in 2017 when Kirdar retired.
Today, Investcorp is pursuing an ambitious growth strategy as it continues to invest through its six business lines: private equity, real estate, absolute return investments, infrastructure, credit management and strategic capital.
The company had $31.1bn in assets under management at the end of 2019 and its new leadership plans to take assets under management to $50bn in the medium term.
“When we started, our main clients were from the GCC, and while they remain important, the company’s investors now are from all over the world, including Europe and Asia,” Mr Al Zayani said.
With fast-changing global investment scenarios, Investcorp is increasingly pivoting to technology sector investments.
“We built on this solid foundation and today the firm, his dream, is more global, diversified and resilient than ever,” Mr Al Ardhi said.
by Massoud A Derhally and Sarmad Khan
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Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
What is Diwali?
The Hindu festival is at once a celebration of the autumn harvest and the triumph of good over evil, as outlined in the Ramayana.
According to the Sanskrit epic, penned by the sage Valmiki, Diwali marks the time that the exiled king Rama – a mortal with superhuman powers – returned home to the city of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after vanquishing the 10-headed demon Ravana and conquering his kingdom of Lanka. The people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit thousands of earthen lamps to illuminate the city and to guide the royal family home.
In its current iteration, Diwali is celebrated with a puja to welcome the goodness of prosperity Lakshmi (an incarnation of Sita) into the home, which is decorated with diyas (oil lamps) or fairy lights and rangoli designs with coloured powder. Fireworks light up the sky in some parts of the word, and sweetmeats are made (or bought) by most households. It is customary to get new clothes stitched, and visit friends and family to exchange gifts and greetings.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
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Saturday, October 26: ‘The Time That Remains’ (2009) by Elia Suleiman
Saturday, November 2: ‘Beginners’ (2010) by Mike Mills
Saturday, November 16: ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013) by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Tuesday, November 26: ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) by Alan J Pakula
Saturday, December 7: ‘Timbuktu’ (2014) by Abderrahmane Sissako
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
