Jadwa Investment is raising up to $200m for its first blind-pool private credit fund, as Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf emerge as growth markets for alternative financing.

The Saudi investment firm has already raised $80m and expects to secure the remainder by late 2026 from investors including sovereign wealth funds and pension plans, according to Fidaa Haddad, managing director and head of private credit.

The fund will invest across the Gulf and has already deployed capital into two Saudi fintech companies, Lendo and JeelPay. Jadwa expects to close two additional transactions in the first half of the year.

Haddad said the firm is seeing particularly strong opportunities in acquisition financing, as companies from the United Arab Emirates seek funding for deals in Saudi Arabia. He added that regulatory changes, including reforms supporting digitisation and non-bank lending, have made private credit transactions easier to execute.

Jadwa manages about $30bn of client assets across private equity, real estate, and fixed income. The firm joins a growing group of global and regional managers, including KKR, Ares, and Jefferies, accelerating their push into Gulf private credit as banks focus on funding large government-backed projects.

The move reflects private equity and credit firms’ increasing focus on the Middle East as liquidity tightens in local banking systems and deal activity accelerates.

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