eFinancialCareers

The Middle East is ripe for a private equity boom, but a shortage of skilled professionals is hampering predicted growth.

A report by Deloitte predicts strong growth in private equity. This comes on the back of excess capital in the region and an increasing number of funds targeting it, particularly as investors lose confidence in Western markets and the Middle East continues to look robust.

But one short-term stumbling block is a lack of skilled individuals in the region, says Neven Hendricks, regional managing partner for financial advisory services in the MENA region at Deloitte.

“Perceived industry challenges in the short term which have been identified include a shortage of skilled investment professionals and restrictive foreign ownership legislation.”

Currently, on the hiring front, demand for professionals is high but it’s mainly top-level professionals who have been taken on. They are only just thinking about building out their teams now, says Nick Careless, managing director of recruiters AP Executive.

“The candidate pool in the region is relatively shallow,” he says. “But a couple of our key clients offer candidates a good opportunity to gain extensive exposure to some interesting, not to mention highly profitable, transactions in both the public and private markets around the region.”

Another private equity party pooper is the lack of investment opportunities in the GCC.

But some decent deals are emerging. Egypt’s Weather Investments announced the sale of its 10% stake in Orascom Telecom – worth $1.5bn – to US private equity firms Apax Partners, Madison Dearborn and TA Associates, for example.

Meanwhile, there’s a new home-grown fund in the shape of the $500m Islamic Buyout Fund, which has the backing of Global Investment House, Dubai Islamic Bank and Millennium Capital.

The Deloitte report predicts the main areas of growth in private equity deals will be within energy, infrastructure, utilities, real estate and financial services.