Cairo, Egypt-based Beltone Financial, an investment bank, is joining forces with France’s SIGEFI Private Equity to invest in small- and medium-sized enterprises in Egypt and countries on the Gulf Cooperative Council.

The joint venture is launching a US$150 million private equity fund to invest in SMEs or potential spin-offs from large companies with growth and export potential. A.M. Omran, director of Beltone Private Equity, will be the managing director of the new JV. SIGEFI will provide its “long global knowledge” to the fund, appoint a representative on the investment committee and participate in the management team.

Beltone Private Equity was established in 2005 as the private equity of Beltone Financial and currently manages US$500 million in assets.