Private Equity

Private equity firm Abraaj raised billions to do good — then it fell apart

Western investors poured money into the Dubai-based group, now the world’s largest insolvent private equity firm

Sunday 14 October 2018 at 05:45

Arif Naqvi, chief executive officer of Abraaj Capital
Arif Naqvi, chief executive officer of Abraaj Capital Photo: Getty Images

In January, the Abraaj Group had $14bn of assets under management and was trying to raise $6bn for what would be the world’s largest emerging markets private equity fund.

It’s now the world’s largest insolvent private equity firm. In June, it filed for provisional liquidation.