Dubai-based Arabian General Investment Company (Agico) has announced plans for ambitious new initiatives following the success of its AED 92 million ($25 million) rights issue.

The Arab Gateway Fund, Agico's vehicle for investment on Arab stock exchanges, will be opened to outside investors, says Agico general manager Iyad Duwaji.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with UK-based PrimeCorp Investment Management to open the Arab Gateway Fund which, since its inception in 1996, has been a proprietary instrument (MEED 4:6:99). 'The fund will be managed from London and has set a target to raise

$75 million,' says Duwaji. 'The aim is to target foreign investors wanting to access the emerging market of the Arab region.' It will be launched in July.

Duwaji says Agico also has plans for other projects, including a AED 35 million ($10 million) investment in Polyfilm, a private company based in Jebel Ali which manufactures polypropylene film for the packaging industry. It is understood the deal will be finalised before September.

Mohammad el-Bakary, Agico senior investment officer, says that the company has received a mandate from local investors to establish a joint venture for the production of aluminium foil. 'The joint venture will be with a consortium of three of the leading French producers of aluminium,' El- Bakary says. Agico plans to raise capital of AED 660 million ($180 million) from Gulf investors.

Agico is also seeking approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to set up and manage a closed-end fund that would invest in UAE companies.

Some of the funding for the array of projects has come from Agico's recently completed rights issue. It closed on 7 June more than 2.5 times oversubscribed, with bids received totalling AED 212 million ($57.8 million). 'The success of the rights issue reiterates the high degree of investor confidence that we enjoy,' Agico chairman Majid Saif al-Ghurair said on 12 June. 'The additional funds generated, both by the rights sale and the sale of our investment in Hotel Princess Sofia in Spain, will assist us in growing into one of the leading financial services companies in the region.'