Brookfield secures $2bn first close for Middle East private equity fund backed by Saudi PIF

Brookfield Asset Management has completed a $2bn first close for a new Middle East-focused private equity fund, with significant backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and a group of global and regional institutional investors, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Brookfield has committed $500m to the vehicle, with the remaining capital provided by PIF and other strategic investors. The fund will target both buyout and growth equity opportunities across the Middle East, focusing on sectors including financial services, consumer businesses and technology.

Around half of the fund’s capital is expected to be invested in Saudi Arabia, reflecting the Kingdom’s continued efforts to attract international private capital as part of its economic diversification strategy.

The successful fundraising comes despite heightened geopolitical tensions in the region earlier this year. Sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors across the Gulf have continued to support large-scale investment programmes, while international private equity firms have maintained their expansion plans in the Middle East.

Brookfield has been among the most active global alternative asset managers in the region, managing approximately $16bn of Middle Eastern assets across its private equity, infrastructure and real estate strategies.

The first close also follows Brookfield’s participation, alongside Blackstone and KKR, in a recently announced $16bn infrastructure partnership involving Kuwait’s oil export pipeline network, highlighting continued investor appetite for Gulf assets.

For Saudi Arabia’s PIF, the fund reflects a broader strategy of using partnerships with international asset managers to attract overseas capital into the domestic economy, rather than solely allocating capital to overseas investments.

According to PIF Deputy Governor and Head of Middle East and North Africa Investments Yazeed Al-Humied, the partnership is intended to strengthen the regional private equity ecosystem by increasing international investment, accelerating deal activity and bringing additional expertise to local capital markets.