This October, emerging market equities sank to an all time low. Dominated by few firms and largely composed of infrastructure-related companies, capital markets in the Middle East and elsewhere could not provide the liquidity needed to boost stocks. While similar effects will continue across regional bourses and affect the short-term valuation of firms, the region’s private equity industry will remain shielded because of the inherent nature of the asset class and the deal types most popular in the Middle East: buyouts and growth capital. At the fundraising stage, private equity fund managers will continue to enjoy high liquidity for another quarter, until prospected declines in oil revenues are realized and futures contracts expire. Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) still have capital to deploy and will continue to partner with private equity firms for attractive buyouts in the region and abroad as company valuations sink and smart investors can invest in firms
