Investcorp, an investment house listed in Bahrain and London, said on Monday it raised over $500 million from regional investors through a preferential share issue, a sign investor confidence has returned to the company. Investcorp said in February it was seeking at least $250 million in fresh capital after it posted its first-ever loss of $511 million for the six months ended Dec. 31. Investors in the Gulf region have been holding onto their funds since the financial crisis reached the region late last year, and confidence sunk further when prominent Saudi business groups Saad and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (AHAB) ran into financial difficulties in May. Bahrain-based Islamic investment house Arcapita in a similar capital hike has raised $325 million out of a targeted $400 million, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said in June. Investcorp, which had some $13 billion assets under management at the end of 2008, has suffered from the financial crisis as its hedge fund investments and private equity companies were hit by the global economic downturn.
