| Kippreport.com

Saleh Kamel

September 22, 2008 5:35 by kippreport

President of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, founder of the Albaraka Group and media mogul, Saleh Kamel runs a diversified business empire. It is one that has brought into contact, and conflict, with some of the region’s biggest players. His ART network has upped the stakes by buying the rights to the FIFA World Cup, to the fury of many football fans. Most recently, he announced plans to raise $9bn through an IPO, to start an Islamic investment bank along with other Gulf investors and banks. The IPO is expected to be the largest in the region, and Kamel said that the stocks would first be floated on the Bahrain Stock Exchange.

Another $2bn for the project, called Ummar Bank, will be raised through private equity placement.