Trowers & Hamlins has advised on Bahrain's Al Waha Fund of Funds investment in Chinese MSA Capital.
Al Waha Fund of Funds has made an investment in a Chinese $250 Million Fund as part of its aim to build the relationship between the start-up capital in the Far East and the opportunities and substantial pool of tech talent in the Middle East. This represents a bridging of the two markets and positions Bahrain as a hub for regional expansion.Al Waha Fund of Funds is a government-led initiative targeted to seek investment in venture capital funds that will invest directly, or indirectly, In the MENA region, with a particular focus on Bahrain. Al Waha Fund of Funds stakeholders consists of Tamkeen, Mumtalakat, Osool, Batelco Group, National Bank of Bahrain and Bahrain Development Bank Group.
This recent investment offers to give the local market access to both international businesses looking to invest in the region and for current businesses to expand in the Far East. As a milestone, this marks the first investment in a Far East Fund by Al Waha, who has so far invested in a wide range of venture capitalists such as BECO Capital, Middle East Venture Partners, 500 start-ups and European Fund manager Finch Capital.
MSA chose Bahrain as its gateway to the GCC since MSA sees Bahrain as hyper-efficient, user-friendly hub for regional expansion, where they can collaborate with regulators, entrepreneurs and strategic corporate partners to pilot new business models.
The team at Trowers helped review and negotiate the terms of Al Waha's investment and it represents another successful collaboration with Al Waha acting as their sole legal advisors.
Partner Nick Green led the Trowers team and was assisted by Matthew McDonald.
Nick Green commented: "We are delighted to have assisted Al Waha on its now fifth successful investment into a major start-up fund. Al Waha is at the cutting edge of start-up investment in the region and is taking positive steps to enhance the start-up ecosystem in Bahrain by encouraging new set-ups in the Kingdom and cross-pollination with regional and international expertise. Al Waha's investors are some of the key institutions in Bahrain, demonstrating the importance the Kingdom is placing on diversifying its economy and leading the region in this sector. We are very pleased to support this worthwhile initiative for the Kingdom and our specialist funds practice is perfectly placed to assist Al Waha in achieving its goals".
