Company Background
Capitas Group International (“CGI”) is a Jeddah-based company established to build, launch and manage real estate sector businesses and projects within OIC markets. Founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDBG), and Capitas Group, LLC, a NY-based management company, the Company has since been engaged by governments and leading private sector institutions to develop financial platforms and oversee large scale real estate development projects worth in excess of SAR 5 billion.
The Company focuses on two main business areas: Financial Platform development for real estate finance and Development Management Services to manage the planning and execution of large scale real estate developments. In addition, a third practice area focuses on opportunities to developed specialized financial platforms for SMEs. CGI has successfully built unique financial structures that have been well received by global markets and international investors.
CGI is primarily focused on business opportunities in OIC member countries leveraging its joint venture with ICD and the IDBG. As part of its international expansion, the firm has strategic business interests in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia and Oman. In order to deliver products and services that give the firm clear real estate sector advantage, CGI’s DMS group has partnered and collaborated with global and regional leaders in the areas of real estate development and management including Surbana and Opus.
Since its establishment, CGI’s track record in Saudi Arabia includes:
- Raising over SAR 1.5 billion in equity investment from private and public sector institutions for specialized financing platforms
- Managing end to end operational set up of a SAR 1.25 billion national residential home finance company with sponsorship from
- Establishing a SAR 1 billion SME Fund sponsored by ICD and the IDB
- Launching a dedicated real estate Development Management Service in collaboration with Surbana and Opus
- Advising Al-Balad Al-Ameen, the real estate development arm of the Municipality of Makkah, to redevelop three million square
- Working with the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) of Saudi Arabia to conduct a complete diagnostic and present operational
- Collaborating with prominent investors in KSA to develop a SAR 100 million national construction finance firm
Beyond Saudi Arabia, CGI was mandated by Qatar’s Ministry of Business and Trade to manage the establishment of the country’s QR 2 billion small and medium enterprise authority. The Company is seeking new opportunities to establish home finance and construction finance platforms and manage large scale real estate developments across OIC and developing markets.
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”) |
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”) is a multilateral organization, part of the Islamic Development Bank (“IDB”) Group. Its shareholders include the IDB, 45 member countries, and five public financial institutions from its member countries. ICD’s mandate is to support the economic development of its member countries through financial support to private sector projects. Its operations serve to complement the activities of the IDB in member countries and also those of national financial institutions. ICD has operations in 17 countries, with total net approvals in ICD’s portfolio amounting to USD $1.6 billion.
Capitas Group, LLC |
Capitas Group, LLC is a privately held, New York-based management firm founded in 2005. The company aims is to establish specialty financial service businesses that fill the unmet demand for Shari’ah compliant finance in the US market and beyond. The team’s wide range of expertise includes real estate finance, risk management, secondary financial markets and financial product development.
Prior to founding Capitas Group, LLC, members of management established successful track-records as entrepreneurs in Islamic finance, the mortgage sector and banking including being part of the initial set up of a Shari’ah compliant home financing business in cooperation with Freddie Mac which has since gone on to originated over USD $3 billion mortgage assets. In addition, members of the founding team brought in depth experience through stints at Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Standard and Poors, among others.
Building on this experience, the Capitas Group team created the Zayan brand of companies, leading to a series of firsts in the US market including:
- Established a national, Shari’ah compliant commercial real estate financing platform with a Shari’ah compliant conduit financing
- Achieved buy-in from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings on true-sale securitization of Musharakah Mutanaqisa contracts
- Developed a rated Shari’ah compliant servicing operation in partnership with Pacific Life
- Launched the first homeowners’ takaful (Shari’ah compliant insurance) program in the US through a partnership with Lexington
For each of these platforms, the team has successfully created business plans, customized and implemented enterprise level IT systems, executed origination strategies, developed market driven brands, and has been intricately involved in the fundraising and capital raise process with global financial institutions and private investors.
To support its ventures, the team has worked with world-class Shari’ah supervisors and with US government regulators on policy matters in relation to Islamic finance and the handling of Shari’ah compliant mortgages, critical tasks where the legal code and standards for Shari’ah compliant finance are evolving.