Al Barrak looks to drive investment in emerging telecom entities

Former Zain Group CEO Saad Al Barrak is looking to raise up to US$1 billion for a fund specialising in niche telecom firms.

His new venture, ILA Group, will begin fundraising in 2013, and initially expects to make between 15 and 20 investments in the Middle East and other emerging markets.

Al Barrak is initially looking to raise US$300 million, which the fund intends to channel into more than a dozen companies. ILA has already established a firm in Cairo specialising in cloud computing and communications between computers. It also has interests in the technology firm Mobila, and the cyber-security company Red Lambda.

Al Barrak hopes to court private investors globally in raising the funds and says ILA Group would play an active role in the firms in which it invests. He projects growth rates compounded over five years of around 30 per cent.