MENA Infrastructure Fund LP  acquires a 20% stake in Sohar Power Company.

MENA Infrastructure Fund LP, the leading specialist infrastructure private equity fund, sponsored by Waha Capital PJSC, Fajr Capital Ltd and HSBC Group, has acquired a 20% shareholding in Sohar Power Company SAOG (“Sohar Power”).

Sohar Power is a Muscat-listed company that owns and operates a 585 megawatt power plant and an associated 150,000 m³ water desalination plant in the Sohar Industrial Port area of Oman. Since reaching commercial operation in May 2007, Sohar Power has enabled vital job creation in Oman and has provided significant base load capacity to the Sultanate’s power and water networks.

The landmark transaction was awarded “Middle East Infrastructure Equity Deal of the Year” for 2012 by the Infrastructure Investor Magazine. The publication also recognised MENA Infrastructure as the “Middle East Infrastructure Fund Manager of the Year” for 2012.

The US$300 million MENA Infrastructure Fund L.P. was launched in 2007. The Sohar Power acquisition marks the fund’s fourth major investment, having previously acquired stakes in Alexandria International Container Terminals in Egypt, United Power Company in Oman and Hajr Electricity Production Company in Saudi Arabia. MENA Infrastructure Fund L.P. is also part of the consortium that, together with ACWA Power and Samsung C&T, is the preferred bidder in the Rabigh 2 IPP project in Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on the Sohar Power acquisition, H.E. Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of MENA Infrastructure and Chairman of Waha Capital Ltd, remarked “We are delighted to see MENA Infrastructure Fund L.P. add Sohar Power to its investment portfolio. The market for infrastructure investment remains strong and MENA Infrastructure has successfully positioned itself as a leading infrastructure asset manager in Middle East and North Africa”.

Iqbal Khan, Board Member of MENA Infrastructure and CEO of Fajr Capital Ltd, added: “The award-winning Sohar Power investment reinforces infrastructure as an attractive asset class in the Middle East and North Africa. We look forward to continue playing an active role in developing infrastructure and economic prosperity across the region.”

Mark Lemmon, CEO of MENA Infrastructure, said “This acquisition marks the fourth investment of MENA Infrastructure Fund L.P. and consolidates our fund as the most successful infrastructure fund in the Middle East and North Africa”.