Emirates’ BlueFive aims to be GCC’s biggest Shariah PE name

UAE-based BlueFive Capital has set its sights on becoming the GCC’s biggest Shariah PE firm as it gathers dealmaking momentum.

Launched less than a year ago, BlueFive has reportedly raised more than US$6 billion through a flurry of dealmaking, networking and acquisitions.

Its audacious drive may be less surprising when one discovers the force behind the firm: Hazem Ben-Gacem, the former co-CEO of Investcorp. Upon leaving the Saudi company where he made his name for over three decades, Tunisian-born Hazem immediately began marketing his new enterprise.

In just 10 months, Hazem has achieved more than a fifth of the US$25 billion fundraising target he set for himself in five years, a promising start to his ambition of placing the firm on equal footing with his former employer. Investcorp ranks as the Middle East’s largest non-sovereign PE firm, with US$55 billion to US$60 billion in AuM.

Launched in November 2024 with offices in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and London, BlueFive began by focusing on consolidation plays in the financial sector and technology-driven solutions for the private wealth, insurance and public markets.

By July 2025, its momentum resulted in its single largest yield –  a GCC PE fund worth US$2 billion. The same month, it had a successful closing of an investment round valued at US$120 million.

August 2025 brought two significant deals to BlueFive. Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain, acquired a stake in the company. Later that month, an alliance was forged with CICC Capital, the PE platform of China International Capital Corporation.

September 2025 resulted in two other significant partnerships. The first was a tie-up with Neo Capital, a US$650 million asset manager, to form BlueFive Private Wealth. The other was the launch of BlueFive786, a Singapore-based Shariah investment arm that focuses on offering savings and retirement products to populous Muslim nations in Southeast Asia.

BlueFive’s pivot to Shariah was enabled by its purchase of a stake in Saudi investment banker and property manager Sidra Capital, and its sale of a stake in BlueFive786 to Sidra parent, the Al Murjan group.

Having made significant moves in the conventional funding space in the past, Hazem is eyeing more Islamic partnerships after Sidra, say those familiar with the situation at the two firms.

BlueFive’s decisive move toward the Shariah space comes at a critical time, as it targets one of the fastest-growing asset classes. Fitch Ratings estimated the value of the global Islamic finance market – including banking, capital markets, Takaful, Sukuk and other instruments – at US$4 trillion by the end of 2024 from US$2.88 trillion at end-2019.