Finally investing in the Middle East

When I met Fady Michel Abouchalache, CEO of the $27 billion Paris-based wealth management and private equity firm Quilvest in 2012, he was pessimistic about the prospects for private equity in the Middle East. Not anymore, however, since he is placing a bet — a large $150 million bet — on a project in the region. While Abouchalache has always kept an eye on investment opportunities in the region — a natural inclination given that he spent the first 18 years of his life in Lebanon — this year he has decided to pursue one of these investment opportunities, the second time he has ventured in the Middle East. After unsuccessfully attempting to pioneer private equity in the Middle East in 1998 by launching a Beirut-based private equity firm, Abouchalache quickly landed a job at Quilvest and eventually became the CEO of the investor group. However, he has not given