Talk:Investcorp

NPOV Issues

The history section has recently introduced new content that is questionable in its point of view. In particular the discusssion of the firm's founding and the relationship with Dr. Jawad Hashim who has written "INVESTCORP - The True Story Behind Its Creation" (see http://www.jmhinternational.com/investcorp/index.html) Without personally being an expert on this subject, I would propose a mention of the controversy raised in the book but would not include significnat detail from Hashim's text. I have already removed significant portions of the added text. |► ϋrbanяenewaℓ • TALK ◄| 23:30, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

I am a representative of Investcorp and agree with you that this content (the History and References) sections are questionable in their point of view. We propose to remove all of the text relating to these two sections as some of it is potentially libellous. If you agree, please can you 'resolve the dispute' which will allow us to remove the rest of it. Thanks. Katiecola1 (talk) 15:46, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

I do not think any part of the history and links should be removed. The content provided by Jawad Hashim cannot be liable. These are undeniable facts which none of Investcorp's representatives nor employees might never have been even aware of. The documents and pictures provided by Jawad Hashim do seem to speak for themselves. Also, as Hashim points out, Namir Kirdar's testimony (in his OWN HANDWRITING) is also registered in the British/English courts (Discovery Documents # AD5210 - AD5227), easily accessible by the public. It is very obvious that anyone from Investcorp would want to remove the History and References from this article for reasons to protect the corporation and Nemir Kirdar from certain information which they do not want the public to know about. I say please leave it all in there.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Hashmoder (talk • contribs) 23:44, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

Authorship

The primary author on this page is from IP 66.28.235.100.

Whois 66.28.235.100?

   %rwhois V-1.5:0010b0:00 rwhois.cogentco.com
   66.28.235.100
   network:ID:NET-421CEB601D
   network:Network-Name:NET-421CEB601D
   network:IP-Network:66.28.235.96/29
   network:Org-Name:Investcorp International, Inc.
   network:Street-Address:280 Park Ave W, Floor 37
   network:City:New York
   network:State:NY
   network:Postal-Code:10017
   network:Tech-Contact:ZC108-ARIN
   network:Updated:2005-10-18 14:49:55
   network:Updated-by:jknowles

That makes this article an NPOV (WP:NPOV) violation, IMHO.

---

I am a Wikipedia user and do not agree this article is advertisement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.246.35.179 (talk) 22:11, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

removing POV tag with no active discussion per Template:POV

I've removed an old neutrality tag from this page that appears to have no active discussion per the instructions at Template:POV:

This template is not meant to be a permanent resident on any article. Remove this template whenever:

1. There is consensus on the talkpage or the NPOV Noticeboard that the issue has been resolved
2. It is not clear what the neutrality issue is, and no satisfactory explanation has been given
3. In the absence of any discussion, or if the discussion has become dormant.

Since there's no evidence of ongoing discussion, I'm removing the tag for now. If discussion is continuing and I've failed to see it, however, please feel free to restore the template and continue to address the issues. Thanks to everybody working on this one! -- Khazar2 (talk) 23:45, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

"History" section

I've just removed an extensive, unsourced, detailed and slightly rambling "History" section for the reasons that the material was 1) intermittently promotional; 2) largely unsourced; 3) anecdotal; and 4) detailed at a level far out of proportion to the subject. My broad view on it is that when a third party think that the history of Investcorp is sufficiently noteworthy that they create one, that can be paraphrased and included here. Meantime it reads more like marketing fluff than an encyclopedia entry and should stay out. Comments welcome. JohnInDC (talk) 14:39, 5 September 2017 (UTC)

This is user Hashmoder. I disagree that Investcorp's history reads as "marketing fluff." It is not marketing fluff but actual facts which Investcorp subjectively wants to remove. I have provided images and links to PDF documents which include: (a) scans of Nemir Kirdar's handwritten statement in Arabic plus typed translation in regards to the company's creation; (b) Application for Incorporation & Founder Shareholders’ Meeting; and (c) The Incorporation & First Meeting of the Board of Directors. I firmly believe that it is imperative to include the history facts in Investcorp's wiki page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.68.106.243 (talk) 18:08, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

The material is rambling, self-sourced, self-serving and - among other things - impermissible ORIGINAL RESEARCH and SYNTHESIS. Wikipedia is not the place to settle personal scores or to "set the record straight". The very first step in including this material would be references to reliable, third party sources that describe this history - not the founder's own version and recitation of events. Please don't add it back without at least that. Thanks. JohnInDC (talk) 22:31, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

This is not my personal dispute. I am the third party with direct references. And I actually own the all original photos and corporate documents which I scanned myself. Nemir Kirdar himself admits, in his scanned handwritten statement and in his book (NEED RESPECT TRUST), that the creation of Investcorp involved Dr. Jawad Hashim, David Rockefeller, and Arab Monetary Fund. I have taken photos of the pages from Nemir's book for your review. You will see the names there. Therefore, it is imperative for you to understand the real/true history of Investcorp's creation (with its photos of Hashim/Rockefeller/BoardDirectors and links to PDF files such as the scanned docs of company's incorporation) is what Investcorp wants subjectively to suppress. Please review the photos I have attached/inserted here and let me know.

File:Nemir Book 01 Cover.jpg

Why is it imperative to understand anything at all about the company's formation? The article doesn't say anything about it now, and what is necessary other than the simple (and apparently sourced) statement, "the company was originally developed under the auspices of the Arab Monetary Fund and its President, Dr. Jawad Hashim"? There's no reason for three or four paragraphs of aggrieved subjective first person prose about this simple fact (if indeed it is a simple fact). JohnInDC (talk) 00:28, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

I am re-writing (in the third-person) a short, concise and unbiased history of Investcorp's creation in an objective chronologic order. There will be references to: the involvements of Dr. Jawad Hashim, Arab Monitary Fund, David Rockefeller, Willard Butcher, and Nemir Kirdar; the law firm which incorporated Investcorp; the first founder & shareholder meeting; the first board of directors; Nemir Kirdar's book; Nemir Kirdar's scanned handwritten statement from the 1980s; and few other links to the scanned appendices. I would like the three pictures posted as well with different captions; those pictures do not lie. I will avoid any first-person statements of Dr. Jawad Hashim. I will also avoid making any subjective opinions of who was the "brainchild" of Investcorp. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hashmoder (talk • contribs) 00:54, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

You haven't explained why this requires any more than the simple sentence I described above. There's no need to talk about law firms, shareholder meetings, boards of directors or any of that. "The company was founded in [date] under the direction of Hashim. It's in business now as follows:" The pictures are just clutter, and superfluous. Again Wikipedia is not a platform for "making the truth known" or "telling the full story" or settling old scores or any of that. It's for the straightforward recitation of reliably-sourced third party facts, with proper weight given to the matters touched upon in an article. Perhaps it would help if you would explain the dispute here, why (evidently) you want to tell this side of the story in all of its plodding detail, and why others (evidently) would seek to have it omitted. JohnInDC (talk) 01:16, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

I'd add that, given the contentious - and again, aggrieved - tone of the prior versions of this addition, I am inclined to regard the addition of any material beyond the very simple, very basic recitation I've described above, to have a POV basis. This article describes Investcorp and its business, and is not here to add weight to claims being laid by one or another party about who deserves proper credit for it - indeed in that regard I'd remind you that until your addition, the article said nothing about the company's founding; so it's not as if your proposal is necessary to counter some mistaken impression within the article. To the contrary if this issue is disputed or somehow the subject of disagreement, your addition would seem to fan the flames rather than calm matters. JohnInDC (talk) 01:22, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

To say it another way - this isn't the place to prove anything to anyone, or to burden the article with a substantial (and disproportionate) load of "evidence" designed to settle some question once and for all. So - a simple statement is all that's necessary, or appropriate. JohnInDC (talk) 01:35, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

Clean up

I cleaned up the page by removing lots of outdated info and expanded it with more recent info where possible. Mostly, I tried to give the page some sort of order. Open for any suggestions on how this can be improved. Cheers Mr Mike Wang (talk) 18:30, 4 December 2019 (UTC)

Update and clean up of article

Hi, I am an official representative of Investcorp and we would like to update the entry and enrich it with valuable information. We respect the rules of the Wikipedia community and have signed the official agency/Wikipedia agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Statement_on_Wikipedia_from_participating_communications_firms. We adhere strictly to the guidelines and therefore leave it up to the members of the Wikipedia community to make or reject changes for us. Could someone for whom there is no conflict of interest please review the following content we have proposed? See the proposed changes below in the text.

Preamble: Updating sources, including Mubadala Investment Company ownership, and moving outdated paragraph on Investcorp being a wholesale bank (it ceased being one in 2019) to the HIstory section

Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products, for private [News of Bahrain] and institutional [Wall St Journal] clients. Founded in Bahrain in 1982, the firm has offices in United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Japan and Singapore. Investcorp’s principal client base is in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council [Forbes], but it also has a growing base of institutional clients in North America, Europe, and Asia.

The group’s biggest external shareholder is Mubadala Investment Company, a $229 billion Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, which has a stake of 20 percent [Bloomberg]. The company’s main activities include private equity, real estate, and credit management [Investcorp], and has $50 billion [Financial Times] worth of assets under management, as of April 2023.  

Investcorp has 7 asset classes [Zawya] which include private equity, real estate, credit, absolute return strategies, GP stakes, infrastructure, and insurance asset management.

History: Added an updated paragraph on Investcorp's history as a wholesale bank (moved from preamble)

The company was co-founded in 1982 by Nemir Kirdar, Elias Hallak, Mike Merritt, and Cem Cesmig and acquired Tiffany & Co in 1984, floating in 1987 [Investcorp]. In 1988, Maurizio Gucci sold almost 47.8% of Gucci [New York Times] to Investcorp and withheld the other 50% until 1993 [New York Times].

The company diversified in 1997 into hedge funds [Private Equity International]. Kirdar stepped down as CEO and executive chairman in 2015 [Investcorp]. With this, Mohammed Alardhi became the Executive Chairman of the company [Financial Times]. The changes also involved an update to the business model, which is now focused on raising funds, raising institutional capital, and diversifying strategies further [Financial Times].

Investcorp made several acquisitions between 2016 and 2019, pushing into China with investments in tech and the food sector [Institutional Investor] [Journal of Commerce]. In 2019, the company also pushed further into the US market with the acquisition of Mercury Capital [New York Times]. Investcorp's portfolio company, Moneybookers, ended its relationship with WikiLeaks in August 2010 as a result of U.S. government pressure [The Economist].

The company was regulated in Bahrain as a wholesale bank until 2019, when it voluntarily surrendered its wholesale banking license [S&P Global]. It remained listed on the Bahrain Bourse (BSE) for four decades until 2021, when it delisted itself as a result of low trading volumes [Bloomberg].

Investment areas: Corporate investment renamed to Private equity

Private equity: Broken sources in list updated, list extended to include newer investments

Investcorp's traditional activity is private equity. This includes mid-size companies in North America, Western Europe, and MENA, including Turkey, as well as technology lower mid-cap investment [Newswire], through Investcorp Technology Partners.

The past and present portfolio include over 175 investments [National News]. Selected past investments include:

• Tiffany & Co. – retailers of jewelry and luxury goods – acquired 1984, floated 1987
• Gucci – designer, producer and distributor of luxury accessories and apparel – acquired from 1989 to 1993, floated 1996
• Leica Geosystems – measuring instrument manufacturer acquired 1998, floated 2000
• Jostens – US provider of school-related affinity products – acquired 2000, sold 2003
• Neptune Technology Group – US manufacturer of water meters – acquired 2001, sold 2003 [Private Equity Asia]
• MW Manufacturers – a US maker of windows and patio doors – acquired 2002, sold 2004 [Bloomberg]
• Hilding Anders – European mattress and bed manufacturer – acquired 2003, sold 2006 [PEI]
• Apcoa – European parking management providers – acquired 2004, sold 2007 [manager-magazin]
• American Tire Distributors - the largest independent US tire distributor – acquired in 2005, sold in 2010 [Tarde Arabia]
• Moody International – international provider of quality and safety services – acquired 2007, sold 2011 [Financial Times]
• FleetPride – North America's largest distributor of truck and trailer parts – acquired 2006, sold 2012 [Dow Jones]
• ProUnlimited – United States-based software and services firm – acquired in 2014 jointly by InvestCorp & Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company [Reuters]
• Corneliani - Italian luxury brand - acquired in June 2016 [Investcorp]
• Ageras – Denmark-based online marketplace for professional services acquired 2017 [Gulf Business]
• Avira – Germany-based cybersecurity company – acquired 2020, sold to NortonLifeLock in 2021 [TechCrunch]
• Dainese – competitive motorcycling racing wear – acquired 2017, sold to Carlyle Group in 2022 [Bloomberg]
• Sonos Group, provider of specialized clinical trial services to the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry – acquired 2020 [Forbes]
• XpressBees, end-to-end e-commerce logistics platform in India – acquired 2020 [Times of India]
• FreshToHome, one of the world’s largest fully integrated online brands in fresh fish and meat – acquired 2020 [The National News]
• Fortune International, specialty distributor of seafood and gourmet food products – acquired 2020 [The National News]
• RESA Power, provider of power services that enhances the safety, reliability, and efficiency of electric power systems – acquired 2021 [Cision]
• CloudCare, Italian tech-enabled digital sales and markets solutions platform – acquired 2021 [Gulf News]
• Marble Point Credit, US specialist asset manager focused exclusively on managing CLOs (collateralised loan obligation) and portfolios of broadly syndicated leveraged loans – acquired 2022 [The National News].

Real estate investment: Number of properties acquired updated, and Investcorp being a top-10 largest cross-border buyer and seller of US real estate

The real estate division [Private Equity Real Estate], based in New York and London, sources and performs due diligence, and arranges financing and the acquisition of US and European properties and US commercial mortgage debt positions. The investment in these properties or loans is typically aggregated into a series of multi-investment portfolios for placement to clients. Debt investments are also made within a series of debt funds [Financial Times] which are managed by the group. Since 1996, Investcorp has acquired over 1,000 properties for a total value of approximately $23 billion [The National News]. Investcorp is among the top-10 largest cross-border buyers and sellers of US real estate [Gulf Business].

Hedge funds: Removed outdated and unnecessarily detailed information

Established in 1996, Investcorp's hedge fund business grew to an approximate value of $3.5 billion capital under management [HedgeWeek], out of which approximately $0.2 billion is reserved for proprietary investments [Annual Report]. The hedge fund business provides institutional investors with access to its emerging manager program, investing with and seeding early-stage managers who, according to Investcorp research, outperform larger hedge funds on a risk-adjusted basis [Reuters]. In 2020, Investcorp merged its hedge fund business with Tages Group, a European alternative asset management firm, creating a 50/50 joint venture [Institutional Investor].

Credit management: Updated AUM figure and added missing source

Investcorp Credit Management has assets under management of over $22 billion [Pensions & Investments]. Based in London, New York, and Singapore, they manage funds that invest primarily in senior secured corporate debt issued by mid and large-cap corporates in Western Europe and the US.

Investcorp Insurance: Added section on Investcorp Insurance

In October 2021, the company launched its Investcorp Insurance Solutions platform which provides investment management services to meet the unique investment needs of insurers [Institutional Asset Manager].

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Thanks in advance! Cfakjellberg (talk) 13:18, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

Hi, I am an official representative of Investcorp. We respect the rules of the Wikipedia community and have signed the official agency/Wikipedia agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Statement_on_Wikipedia_from_participating_communications_firms. We adhere strictly to the guidelines and therefore left it up to the members of the Wikipedia community to make or reject our above proposed changes for us. Since we have not received any replies here nor from directly reaching out to editors associated with the page, we are invoking the "ignore all rules"-rule and have implemented our proposed changes. Please do not hesitate to engage with me or propose new changes/reject made changes if you feel something is not suitable. Cfakjellberg (talk) 09:33, 26 June 2023 (UTC)