SAGIA, IIRME to hold 'Outlook Saudi Arabia' private equity summit

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The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and the Institute of International Research–Middle East (IIRME) will jointly hold the “Outlook Saudi Arabia — Investment and Private Equity Forum 2010” at the Al-Faisaliah Hotel here April 10-12.

“The attractiveness of the Saudi market to private equity investors has grown sharply in recent years. This has been a function of new private-sector opportunities created by the broad economic diversification and liberalization beyond oil and gas,” said Amr El-Barbary, managing director at Citadel Capital, the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Africa with investments of US$8.3 billion spanning 14 countries and 15 industries.

Private equity is money invested in companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange or invested as part of buyouts of publicly traded firms to make them private companies.