3 Oct 2022
Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, announced today that an entity managed by Investcorp has acquired a majority stake in Nour Internet for Communication and Information Technology Company (“NourNet”), one of Saudi Arabia’s largest pure-play providers of connectivity and information and communication technology (“ICT”) services, namely cloud, cybersecurity and managed services.
NourNet was established in 1998 in Saudi Arabia as a wholly owned subsidiary of a business conglomerate, Nour Communications Co. NourNet began as an internet service provider to business-to-business (B2B) clients and has gradually expanded its technical and personnel capabilities to offer value-added ICT services, including cloud, managed IT services, security/cybersecurity, and data center management. NourNet has over 450 employees serving a diversified client base of more than 1,200 businesses across 30 cities in the Kingdom.
Hazem Ben-Gacem, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Investcorp, commented: “We are delighted to have made this investment leveraging Investcorp’s global experience investing in the business services sector and focusing on technology-enabled businesses, combined with our strong experience investing in and taking companies public in Saudi Arabia. Our investment strategy and commitment to this sector is in-line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to accelerate digital transformation across industries.”
Walid Majdalani, Head of Private Equity MENA and SEA at Investcorp, said: “We are very excited to partner with NourNet as our second investment for the recently launched Investcorp Saudi Pre-IPO Growth Fund and our nineth investment in Saudi Arabia. We have ambitious plans for the company, including expanding its service offerings and its geographic footprint organically and/or through acquisitions, and we look forward to working closely with its management team to contribute to its growth journey.”
Khalid AlRayyan, Chief Executive Officer of Nour Communications Co., said: ‘We are delighted to partner with a global blue-chip financial institution with a deeply rooted presence in Saudi Arabia. Investcorp is the ideal partner to enable NourNet to achieve its growth potential. It has an extensive track-record of successfully investing in the technology and business services sector globally and partnering with national champions in the Kingdom and taking them public on the Saudi Exchange.”
Amjad A. Hafez, Chief Executive Officer of NourNet, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Investcorp as a strategic and financial partner to help us institutionalize and boost the momentum towards achieving the company’s ambitious plans of becoming the de facto player in Next generation ICT services market, locally and regionally. NourNet represents an essential building block of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. It provides the full spectrum of connectivity and ICT services to meet the growing needs of Saudi Arabia’s blue-chip public and private players, to whom we remain deeply committed to provide the highest quality service.”
Investcorp opened its office in Riyadh in 2008, managing deep-rooted and long-standing relationships with its investors in Saudi Arabia, and has since then been investing in leading businesses in the Kingdom. To date and including the investment in NourNet, Investcorp has made nine investments in Saudi Arabia, operating across diversified sectors such as healthcare, consumer, tech-enabled services, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and industrial services. The firm has publicly listed four Saudi businesses on Tadawul, generating over $40 billion in potential demand from their respective pre-listing marketing exercises at that time. Investcorp’s portfolio companies employ over 23,000 employees across the Kingdom.