CAIRO: Citadel Capital, a Cairo-based private equity firm, completed a LE 275 million ($50 million) capital increase to finance expansion plans, the firm said in a statement. The capital increase, the company's fourth to day, will add to its permanent capital base, chairman and founder Ahmed Heikal said, "allowing us the liquidity to fund expansion plans at a number of our platform companies operating in high growth sectors. These projects include funding activities in Sudan, where Citadel Capital recently secured a 99-year freehold on 254,000 acres of farmland. The money will also be directed to the Nile River transport projects in Egypt and Sudan as well as the building of a refinery in Cairo's Mostorod district. Earlier this year, Citadel Capital announced a rights issue of more than 52 million new shares to existing shareholders at a par value of LE 5 per share. The rights issue was meant to increase the firm's paid-in capital to LE 3.025 billion from LE 2.75 billion. In May 2008, the firm upped its capital to LE 2.75 billion from LE 1.65 billion. "2009 will likely be a difficult year for most economies around the globe, Heikal said, "but private equity's long term approach benefits from counter cyclical investing where we expand our holdings and build our asset base when prices are reduced. Citadel Capital, established in 2004, controls investments worth more than $ 8.3 billion in industries including mining, oil and gas, cement, transportation and food.
