Citadel to double assets

Citadel Capital, the Egyptian equity firm with $8 billion (Dh29bn) under management, expects to see its energy assets in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region double to as much as $16.5bn in the next five years, the company's managing director said yesterday.

"Forty per cent of our total assets is in the energy sector and that is set to double as our total assets double during the next four to five years," Hisham El Khazindar said. "We expect our total assets to reach $16bn in the mentioned period," El Khazindar added.

Citadel Capital, which focuses on buyout opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa, is currently managing assets covering more than 12 different industries including upstream oil and gas, refining, cement, transportation, mining and agriculture.

"Our energy investments cover both upstream and downstream operations through several companies, including the National Petroleum, the Egyptian Refining, Rally Energy Corp. and the Arab Company for Energy," El Khazindar said.

He added that the National Petroleum Company recently secured approval from the Sudanese government to carry out exploration projects in the country and is currently looking into investment opportunities in Algeria, Iraq and several African countries. "Also, the Egyptian Refining Company is looking into building a new refinery in Egypt, which will act as a second stage refinery," he said.

He said $3bn have been set aside for the project.

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