22 November 2012    

Citadel Capital SAE (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Exchange), the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Africa with US$ 9.5 billion in investments under control, today signed a project development and shareholders’ agreement pursuant to which a group of Qatari investors, arranged by QInvest, and Citadel Capital will form a joint venture to construct and own the facilities required to position a Floating LNG storage and regasification unit (FSRU) at a location in Egypt to deliver natural gas to high-volume end-users.\n\nThe joint venture will import LNG, regasify it at the FSRU, transmit it through the Egyptian national natural gas grid and market the natural gas to local high-volume end-users. It expects to enter into the Egyptian market pursuant to the licensing process for import of natural gas recently announced by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).\n\nQInvest is Qatar’s leading investment bank with business lines including investment banking, investment management, brokerage and wealth management. QInvest is owned by Qatar Islamic Bank, as well as other institutional investors and prominent high net worth individuals from across the Middle East and has an authorized capital of US$ 1 billion.\n\nThe Qatari investment group will hold a 51% interest in the planned joint venture, with Citadel Capital holding the balance. The planned location of the FSRU facility and the expected investment cost of the project were not announced. The planned joint venture has secured the technical and commercial cooperation of global industry leaders in the field.\n\n“We are delighted to partner with QInvest on this project, which will stand as an important pillar of Egypt’s energy security at a key moment in the nation’s development,” said Citadel Capital Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal. “We believe that Egypt is in strong need of additional natural gas to feed the power generation sector and supply Egypt’s industrial base with a reliable, clean source of energy. Citadel Capital has very strong technical skills in this sector and unrivalled knowledge of the current and planned large consumers of natural gas, thereby putting us in a unique position to market imported natural gas in Egypt.”\n\nThis marks Citadel Capital’s second large project in Egypt’s energy sector with Qatari investors, following this year’s successful financial close of the US$ 3.7 billion financing package for the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) project, in which Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) is a key shareholder.\n\nEnergy is one of five core industries in which Citadel Capital invests, alongside mining, agriculture and consumer foods, transportation and logistics and cement manufacturing.\n\n—Ends—\n\nCitadel Capital (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Stock Exchange) is the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Africa. Citadel Capital focuses on building regional platforms in select industries through acquisitions, turnarounds, and greenfields executed via Opportunity-Specific Funds. The firm’s 19 OSFs now control Platform Companies with investments worth more than US$ 9.5 billion in 15 countries spanning 15 industries, including mining, cement, transportation, food and energy. Since 2004, Citadel Capital has generated more than US$ 2.2 billion in cash returns to its co-investors and shareholders (on investments of US$ 650 million), more than any other private equity firm in the region. Citadel Capital is the largest private equity firm in Africa by PE assets under management (2007-2012, as ranked by Private Equity International). For more information, please visit www.citadelcapital.com.\n\nQInvest L.L.C. was licensed by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority in April 2007 and is authorised by the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority. The firm has authorized capital of USD 1 billion and paid up capital of USD 750 million.\n\nThe QInvest shareholder structure includes Qatar Islamic Bank and other institutional investors, as well as prominent high net worth individuals from across the region. The platform offers a broad range of expertise which enables QInvest to deliver a high value service to clients, seamlessly covering advisory, financing and investment needs. The firm’s talented team of investment bankers brings a valuable mix of both international experience and regional knowledge, enabling the firm to pursue opportunities across its chosen markets of the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, South Asia and South-East Asia.\n\nFor more information, please contact:\n\nMs. Ghada Hammouda\nHead of Corporate Communications\nCitadel Capital (S.A.E.)\n\nghammouda@citadelcapital.com\n\nTel: +20 2 2791-4439 • Fax: +20 22 791-4448\nMobile: +20 106 662-0002