Private equity giant Carlyle Group expects fundraising in the Middle East to remain "complicated" for another year as the region's sovereign wealth funds prefer to invest directly, its founder said on Tuesday.
"Fundraising in the Middle East is complicated because a lot of the sovereign wealth funds which have money feel they are to some extent over-allocated in private equity," David Rubenstein, who is also Carlyle's managing director, told reporters on the sidelines of a private equity conference in Abu Dhabi.Rubenstein spent much of the last year doing just that, monetizing affiliates to put money back in the hands of investors. He made another strategic move in the Middle East. It's not a Turkish hospital chain or a Saudi lighting company, but a Brazilian lingerie maker. Rubenstein knows how to entice, which got him in trouble in the first place.
"They want to get some money back before they start putting money out again."
Update 10-30-10: Rubenstein presented a vision for the Middle East's future, which called for reclaiming the great leadership it showed 1,000 years ago when it was at the cutting edge of civilization.
