Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has invested in Project Black, the inaugural private equity fund managed by a unit of Ariel Investments, the first Black-owned asset management firm in the US.
According to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) the fund managed by Ariel Alternatives has received US$1.5 billion in commitments, and that each investor has committed $100-$200 million over its seven-year investment period.
“Project Black will leverage $1.5 billion in commitments from the fund and its co-investors, including QIA, spanning the consumer retail, energy and infrastructure, financial services, healthcare, sovereign and private wealth, and technology sectors,” the wealth fund says in a statement recently.
It says the fund invests in Black-, Latina- and Latino-owned businesses with $100 million-$1 billion revenues, as well as middle-market companies that are not currently minority-owned.
QIA had $445 billion of assets under management as of end-2021.