(Sukuk.net - Bahrain Tribune) Global Investment House 'Global' announced the closing of Global Mena Ijarah Real Estate Fund, a close ended fund dedicated to providing its investors competitive returns using sophisticated Ijarah structures in accordance with Islamic Shariah principles.

The Fund was launched in July 2007 and recently completed its initial and subsequent closings. The Fund's objective is to provide unit holders with current income of 8-10 per cent per annum on it's invested capital contributions, net of all fees.

The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by providing development and/or acquisition financing for a diversified portfolio of real estate properties in the Middle East (including Turkey) and North Africa (Mena) region, through investment structures designed both to generate stable quarterly cash flows in accordance with Shariah Principles and to mitigate capital risk.

Shailesh Dash, Senior Vice President and Head of the Alternative Investments Department at Global said: "We are very excited about the closing of our first Ijarah fund focusing on real estate opportunities in the MENA region. Our MENA Ijarah Fund received excellent response from the region and also from Far East countries. The Fund was successfully closed with overall capital commitments of $75.4 million."

He added: "The MENA region has been recording consistent GDP growth due to a variety of factors. The average GDP within the region increased by 6.3% in 2006, up from a 4.6% increase during each of the first four years of this decade. We believe that this growth will continue at the rate of 5.5% in the year 2007.

Rakesh Patnaik, Head of Real Estate Funds at Global said: "This is an excellent time for the real estate sector in the Mena which is growing at a faster pace than any other sector in the region. Global has built a strong pipeline of deal flow and has evaluated two opportunities that match the fund objective and will consume the first capital call of the fund."

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