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DevCorp
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Press Releases 1998-2000
June 10, 1999DevCorp Partner Speaks at Project Finance Conference
Uwe Jahnke of DevCorp Will Speak on Project FinanceUwe Jahnke, Chairman of DevCorp International E.C., will present a workshop on Advanced Project Finance in Dubai on June 15 and 16. Mr. Jahnke has over 25 years of merchant, investment, and corporate banking experience in the US, the Middle East, and Europe. In the workshop he will share his extensive knowledge and experience in structuring, developing, and financing loans and will explore ways of establishing and maintaining relationships with financing institutions and investors. Mr. Jahnke left the banking industry in order to establish DevCorp International E.C. with Mr. James Greenberg of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In just three years of operation, DevCorp has established a major development fund for investment in Saudi Arabia and has more than US$ 400 million in the project pipeline. With astute planning and a careful assessment of risks, project developers can present a successful case for project financing to targeted Gulf bankers. "The key to successful project financing," says Mr. Jahnke, "is to identify and resolve the components that are of critical interest to both the debt providers and the borrowers." In the Advanced Project Financing seminar, sponsored by the Institute for International Research, Mr. Jahnke will show how to turn that key.
May, 1999One Year Success StoryIn just one year the US $25 million committed by Raytheon Systems Company to the Saudi Offset Limited Partnership (SOLP) is yielding investment benefits to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The SOLP, a unique venture development vehicle, encourages foreign direct equity investment in the Kingdom by structuring partnerships between leading technical partners, the SOLP, and local Saudi partners. Raytheon chose the SOLP as a vehicle because it increases the effectiveness of our offset endeavors, especially in areas outside our core business. The SOLP allows an experienced entrepreneurial development team to identify economic opportunities in Saudi Arabia, invest the Partnership’s substantial capital, and oversee the initial management of the joint ventures established. Both the defense contractors and the Saudi partners for each project benefit from this approach. A key factor in the SOLP’s success is that it seeks the best foreign partner from the world, not a specific country. Mr. James Greenberg, Managing Director of DEVCORP INTERNATIONAL, the professional development group which conceptualized and implemented the SOLP, points out that "value can be added to the Saudi economy by making the best match between the Kingdom’s resources and an economic process which aggressively transforms those resources into successful private sector ventures." The SOLP has recently entered into Memorandums of Understanding with Outokumpo, a Finnish company specializing in copper tubing, particularly for air-conditioners, and Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation, an Indian company with expertise in the petrochemical industry, particularly for the production of intermediate chemicals for the detergents industry. Multiple other projects are under development. The Offset Secretariat praises Tom Armstrong, the Chairman of Hughes Electronic (now part of Raytheon Systems), for having the foresight to commit an investment to the Saudi Offset Limited Partnership. Participation from other defense contractors is anticipated. According to the Offset Secretariat spokesman, "This Partnership is open to all who have offset obligations to the Kingdom. It can become an effective instrument for venture development by creating profitable projects, bringing value both to the Kingdom and to the contractor who invests offset funds."
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