Creative Investments Holding has secured $20m in initial commitments at the first close of its founding round, as the investment company seeks to raise up to $50m to build a regional platform focused on brands and experiences across the Middle East and North Africa.
The Abu Dhabi-based company, also known as Creative Holding, said the initial commitments remain subject to definitive agreements.
Creative Holding is being established by luxury and brands executive Mohamed Talaat Khalifa (MTK) through his investment arm Leo Equities, in partnership with founding investors Onsi Sawiris, Ali Abubakr, and Egypt’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA).
The platform aims to acquire, create, and scale businesses rooted in regional culture, with Egypt and the wider MENA region representing its primary investment markets.
Its strategy focuses on four interconnected segments: food and culinary experiences, hospitality, fashion and retail, and lifestyle and entertainment.
Creative Holding said it plans to take controlling and strategic stakes in businesses while providing growth capital and operational infrastructure to help develop regional brands into internationally competitive companies.
The investment platform has a presence across Cairo, Abu Dhabi, and Milan, combining regional market expertise with European creative and operational capabilities.
Khalifa serves as Founder and CEO of Creative Holding. He is joined by finance executive and arts specialist Heba Makhlouf, who oversees the platform’s finance, governance, and compliance functions.
“The region has world-class heritage, craftsmanship and taste; what it has lacked is a patient, institutional home to grow its brands into international champions,” Khalifa said. “Creative Investments Holding is that home. Culture is our capital.”
The company is structured as a long-term capital holding platform and is targeting a potential public listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul, or the London Stock Exchange (LSE) within five to seven years.
Creative Holding is launching with an active investment pipeline. The company said this includes a potential first acquisition in the heritage food sector.
It is also evaluating properties for the launch of the first Casa Leo, its proprietary boutique hotel concept, as it seeks to establish a presence in the hospitality sector.
The platform’s launch comes amid growing investment interest in the region’s creative and consumer industries, with investors increasingly seeking to turn locally rooted concepts and brands into scalable regional and international businesses.
Through its multi-sector approach, Creative Holding aims to create what it describes as a “MENA House of Brands and Experiences,” bringing businesses across hospitality, food, fashion, retail, lifestyle, and entertainment under a long-term institutional investment platform.
