Kirdar is the man behind Investcorp, the Bahrain-listed investment group. From a humble Iraqi Kurdish background, Kirdar built up the company which last year resulted in a net income of US$302.3m, the highest ever and an increase of 131% over the previous year’s total of US$130.8m.
Founded in 1982, Kirdar is the president and chief executive of the company which operates out of New York, London and Bahrain, specialising in investments in the US and Western Europe. It is estimated that Kirdar owns 20% of the firm’s shares.
The firm offers four lines of alternative investment products: private equity, real estate investment, hedge funds and venture capital. Investcorp is best known for investing in luxury retail names, including Gucci, Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue. Most recently the firm announced it would develop a US$875m real estate project in Seattle, Washington with US developer, Schnitzer West and in May of this year it announced it had acquired nine US hotels for US$450m, including Marriott and Hilton properties.
Other recent investments include US$50m in Stoneworks Asset Management, a London-based global macro shop and made a commitment of US$50m to a New Jersey-based Washington Corner Capital Management, a distressed and credit-based strategy investment firm.
Kirdar began his banking career in New York in 1969 and from 1976 to 1981, as vice president he directed Chase Manhattan Bank’s network in the Gulf. Kirdar, who now resides in the UK, also serves on the board of the Qatar Financial Authority and is the founding member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.
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