Al Noor, the Qatari media group, has launched the USD200m Al Noor Fund, an ethically based fund which will invest in international film projects.
The fund will build a library of film assets by investing in two to three high profile film projects per year over a five year period. It may fully fund these projects, or enter into co-financing, co-development, co-production and/or rights acquisition arrangements with the major studios.
Al Noor, which will act as investment adviser, has already committed USD40m to the fund and is seeking a further USD160m through a private placement with private investors. Al Noor currently produces Arabic language entertainment productions, primarily series for the local Arab market and animations. It is now seeking to expand its operations into the international film market with the launch of the fund.
The fund intends to take advantage of the difficult conditions in the capital markets and the film industry generally to invest in high quality film projects generating the best potential returns from around the world and involving Hollywood talent.
The group believes that, despite depressed global economic conditions, the theatrical motion picture industry has strong long-term growth prospects which should further enhance the value of the proposed investment opportunity. The industry is: currently worth an estimated USD84bn and is expected to grow by four per cent per annum over the next five years.
Ahmed A. Al-Mustafawi Al-Hashemi, chairman of Al Noor Holdings, says: “We are proud to announce the launch of the Al Noor Fund. It gives us the ability to realise our ambition of producing content which is international in nature and will give us access to the best talent in the industry. We intend to build Al Noor into of the most important and well known brands based in the GCC region.”
