| Kippreport.com

Investcorp’s $1 billion Gulf Opportunities Fund I, which is 50 per cent invested so far in four deals, is in advanced talks with four to five target companies, James Tanner, head of corporate investment, told Reuters on the sidelines of a private equity conference.

“We hope to close at least two deals next year and to deploy an average of $60 million equity per deal,” he said.

“We’re broad-minded about sectors but we’re mainly looking at sectors that demographics change. We like defensive sectors like transportation, healthcare, food and oil and gas,” he added.

Investcorp has closed four private equity deals in the Middle East and North Africa since its launch in 2008, in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)and Kuwait.

It invested $98 million in October 2008 in Redington Gulf, a regional distributor and service provider of IT and telecom products.

It also has stakes in gold and jewellery manufacturer L’azurde and a 20 percent stake in Gulf Cryo, a manufacturer of industrial, medical and specialty gases.

The company confirmed on Sunday it had acquired three real estate assets in the United States for $100 million, taking its total buys in the U.S. to eight in 2011 with a combined value of $300 million.

Investcorp, which once floated luxury brands Gucci and Tiffany & Co, posted a rise in net income for the fiscal year ending June 30 to $140.3 million from $102.2 million for the year-ago period, it said in August. [ID:nL6E7J309F

Investcorp had $11.8 billion in assets under management at the end of June 2011 across its private equity and hedge fund businesses. (By Mirna Sleiman; Writing by David French; Editing by Rachna Uppal)