Islamic investment firm Alkhabeer Capital announced its intentions to pour investments in the Gulf region. Alkhabeer's Chief Investment Strategist Henri Chaoul said they would be growing their Sharia-compliant investments. "In private equity for example, we are planning to invest further in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region and are currently looking at a number of serious opportunities," he told Reuters.

Chaoul also revealed that Alkhabeer would be seeking a listing on the Saudi bourse. Although he did not give a time frame when this will happen, the Jeddah-based firm already raised more than USD 217 million in 2008. The funds were scored through private placement with local investors. It has raised more funds since with the launching of a British real estate fund. It was also able to complete real estate transactions in the US. "For real estate the key area for growth for us will be in international markets. Added to this, we have recently launched a new Saudi equity fund and are currently developing our regional capital markets offering," Chaoul explained.