Investcorp hardens focus on Gulf infrastructure

• ‘Once in a generation’ opportunity
• Project pipeline outstrips capital
• Will keep 50% of investments in US

Asset manager Investcorp is stepping up investments in Gulf infrastructure, calling the region a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity as GCC governments invite private capital into major transport, logistics and public sector projects.

“There is a really interesting opportunity in infrastructure. I’m normally a relatively balanced guy. I don’t get carried away. This is borderline getting carried away,” Rishi Kapoor, co-chief executive of the Bahrain-based company, told AGBI on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

Kapoor said the pipeline for Gulf infrastructure “far outstrips” the capital being deployed today, with airports, ports, roads, rail and social infrastructure emerging as priority sectors.

“Governments that historically funded infrastructure almost entirely on their own are now actively inviting private capital,” Kapoor said in an interview. “The aperture for investment has widened dramatically across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain.”

The Gulf continues to push ahead with some of the world’s most ambitious infrastructure plans as governments accelerate diversification agendas and compete to attract global capital. 

Saudi Arabia dominates the landscape with giga-projects such as Neom, including the Octagon industrial hub and The Line urban development, along with the fast-expanding Riyadh Metro and the emerging Qiddiya entertainment city.

The UAE is simultaneously advancing major urban and mobility schemes, including Dubai’s Metro Blue Line, the high speed rail link between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and large-scale communities such as Abu Dhabi’s Jubail Island and Dubai’s Palm Jebel Ali.

Plans for a high-speed rail link between Doha and Riyadh were announced this week.

Investcorp, which manages more than $60 billion in assets, is pursuing two parallel strategies: a Gulf-focused infrastructure fund run with UK-based global investment company Aberdeen, and an OECD-concentrated strategy developed with US private equity company Corsair. 

Kapoor said the company sees “hundreds of billions of dollars” of deal flow in transport and logistics alone, citing precedents like its involvement in New York’s LaGuardia Terminal B and JFK Terminal 6.

The Middle East push comes as the company maintains a significant position in the United States, which Kapoor still views as the world’s strongest macro story. 

Earlier this month, Investcorp completed the acquisition of Guardian Fire Services, a US fire and life-safety services company, from private equity firm Northern Lakes Capital.

Its subsidiary Investcorp Capital announced the purchase of a portfolio of 35 industrial and logistics buildings on the eastern and western coasts of the US in a deal worth $400 million.

Kapoor said Investcorp expects to keep roughly 50 percent of its global investments in the US in 2026, backed by resilient consumption, a deep innovation ecosystem and nominal GDP growth approaching 5 percent.

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The company remains focused on US industrial real estate, logistics and senior living, while largely avoiding office and retail after exiting those sectors before the pandemic.

Infrastructure tied to reshoring, digitalisation and domestic manufacturing also remains a major US theme.

Asia and the Middle East are expected to account for a growing share of capital deployed next year, with Kapoor saying investment corridors between Gulf sovereign wealth funds and Asian institutions are becoming “a real thing” after years of anecdotal discussion.

Investcorp raises around $7 billion annually and aims to reach $100 billion in assets within five years.

Gulf investors account for about a quarter of its assets under management, said Kapoor, with the remainder coming from institutions across North America, Europe and Asia.