Dubai: Dubai-based buyout firm Abraaj Group said unused capital from its health fund was returned to investors, dismissing media reports that said money had disappeared as “inaccurate and misleading.”
“All capital that was drawn from the Abraaj Growth Markets Health Fund was for approved fund investments,” Abraaj said in an emailed statement on Sunday. “Some capital was not used as quickly as anticipated due to unforeseen political and regulatory developments” in several markets, it said.
Investors were told about these delays “through quarterly general partner reports and other investor communications.”
Abraaj was responding to a February 2 report in the Wall Street Journal that said Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank’s International Finance Corp unit, CDC Group and Proparco Group hired a forensic accountant to examine what happened to some of their money, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Ankura Consulting Group will audit the fund and trace money to understand why some of it hasn’t yet been used for building hospitals and clinics, according to the newspaper.
Abraaj said after discussions with investors, it returned unused capital to all investors at the end of December. The company is now working with KPMG “to verify all receipts and payments made by the fund in accordance with the International Standard on Related Services applicable to agreed-upon procedures engagements,” it said.
