Abraaj Capital no longer interested in Egypt's Citadel Capital

Ahram Online, Tuesday 26 Jul 2011

Abraaj announces an end to its plans to acquire the leading equity firm, but doesn't rule out the possibility of resuming the deal in the future

Abraaj Capital announced Tuesday that it is no longer exploring buying a stake in Egypt's Citadel Capital.

Dubai-based Abraaj Capital, a leading private equity and asset management group, was earlier reported as conducting preliminary talks to enter into a strategic partnership with Egypt's Citadel Capital.

Abraaj announced the termination of acquisition negotiations in a statement released today.

But it did not exclude the possibility of resuming the deal in the future "should performance, deal terms and/or circumstances change.”

Citadel Capital reported a widened net loss for the first quarter of 2011 marked by extreme political upheaval, saying its fundraising is likely to be affected for the remainder of the year.

The private equity firm reported net losses of $4.5 million (LE26.6 million) on revenues of $2.7 million (LE15.9 million) in the first quarter of 2011.

Citadel posted net profits of $0.25 million (LE1.5 million) for the same period last year.

Short link: