Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 6 January, 2009:

Rasmala, a leading regional investment banking firm announced the successful first closing of Rasmala MENA Private Equity Fund 2, with USD 120 million in commitments received. The Sharia compliant fund is primarily focused on mid-cap opportunities in the GCC and Egypt that benefit from the region’s GDP growth. It has a target Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 25% (per annum).

“With this successful first closing we are confident of reaching the target fund size of the USD 350 million in the next few months” said Tamer Bazzari, Deputy CEO at Rasmala and member of the Fund’s investment committee.

“We see an abundance of opportunities in the region and believe this is an opportune time to be investing given liquidity needs in the market and attractive valuations. The Fund has already made one investment in the UAE manufacturing sector and is evaluating several attractive opportunities in the banking, oil and gas, logistics, healthcare and education sectors.” added Bazzari.

Rasmala Private Equity Fund 2 capitalizes on Rasmala’s experienced management team, its “on the ground” presence in the GCC markets and Egypt, its strong deal-sourcing and execution abilities, and its proven track record.

Rasmala is considered a pioneer in regional private equity; having launched one of the first regionally focused private equity funds in 1999. That fund was successfully liquidated in 2007, returning 3.5 times the capital to investors and achieving a gross IRR of 22%.