The world’s largest dedicated net asset value (NAV) finance provider 17Capital is expanding its presence in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region and has made a key appointment in Dubai.

The firm expects the GCC to be one of the big drivers of capital raising in the coming years, reaffirming its prediction that deployment in the NAV financing market could grow to $145bn by 2030.

NAV financing is a funding strategy that allows companies to leverage their total asset value to secure capital. By assessing the worth of assets like real estate and equipment, businesses can obtain loans or investments based on NAV rather than just cash flow.

Osama Al-Adhamy has been appointed as managing director and principal representative for 17Capital, DIFC Representative Office. He will be based in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) and will increase the firm’s capacity to unlock institutional capital in a region that has a long track record investing in private capital funds.

Al-Adhamy joins 17Capital from JP Morgan Asset Management, where he was managing director and co-head of Middle East institutional clients. Prior to this role, he was part of the Global Credit Markets team at JP Morgan in both Dubai and London.

17Capital recently raised the world’s largest dedicated NAV finance fund, closing on $5.5bn for its Strategic Lending Fund 6, which includes co-investment and affiliated vehicles in commitments, a portion of which was raised from Mena-based institutional investors.

The firm also manages a dedicated credit programme focused on providing NAV loans to private equity buyout funds, with its first fund closing on €2.6bn in 2022. 17Capital, which was recently acquired by Oaktree Capital Management, has now raised $19bn since its inception and continues to be a market leader as adoption of NAV finance increases.