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Markaz announced that, after reaching an agreement with Commercial Bank of Kuwait, it began the process of partial pro-rata redemptions of approximately 25% of the cash available in Markaz “Idikhar” Fund, after having accounted for proper reserves to meet expenses, to all unit holders based on their shareholding percentages.
Mr. Manaf Alhajeri, General Manager of Markaz said “We would like to thank Commercial Bank of Kuwait for its cooperation, and we highly appreciate the Bank’s efforts, which reflects the trust between the two institutions. Commercial Bank of Kuwait has been the banker and partner to the “Idikhar” Fund right from inception back in 1999 and has been highly proactive and diligent in serving the needs of the Fund. We look forward to sustaining this partnership to better serve our Funds and investors.”
The first batch of redemptions represents approximately 25% of the total assets for “Idikhar” as of the close of business on December 31, 2008. All additional income earned from that period including any profit credited to the Fund’s account shall accrue to the unit holders.
Alhajeri Added “While we understand that our decision to suspend the redemptions may have caused some inconvenience to some investors, this decision was not taken lightly and was carried out to act in the best interests of all investors which are treated equally by Markaz despite of the size of their investments.”
Alhajeri concluded “This first partial redemption marks a significant step in the process of distributing money back to unit holders. We are committed to making future partial redemptions as and when cash becomes available. We continue to work on realizing value for our unit holders wherein interim partial redemptions will continue as cash accumulates either through the maturing of portfolio holdings or their sale. In the end, we would like to state that preserving the value of the Fund’s assets and restoring cash to the unit holders are the top priorities during this process.”
About Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz”:
Kuwait Financial Centre S.A.K 'Markaz', with total assets under management of over KD 880 million as of December 31, 2008 was established in 1974, and has become one of the leading asset management and investment banking institutions in the Arabian Gulf Region. Markaz was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 1997; and was awarded a BBB+ corporate rating by Capital Intelligence Ltd.
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