Overview

According to research by a major Middle East private equity firm, Saudi Arabia accounted for 23% of private equity transactions in the Arab world over the past decade, trailing only Egypt and the UAE.

To date, the private equity landscape in Saudi Arabia has predominantly been dominated by local and regional players, including private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and family offices, who are able to capitalise on their knowledge of the market, local relationships and lower barriers to entry.

However, international private equity firms have shown great interest in the Saudi Arabian market compared to more developed markets, the potential in the Saudi market is immense as the country continues to grow and the government continues its economic and regulatory reforms. As such, Saudi Arabia presents a great number of potential opportunities for local, regional and international private equity players.

In this briefing, Latham & Watkins identifies the major issues for private equity firms looking to make an investment in Saudi Arabia, as well as highlighting a number of ongoing reforms which may make Saudi Arabia an even more attractive jurisdiction for private equity activity in the coming years.

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