SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi investment firm Invest AD is seeking to raise $325 million from third-party investors for a $400 million private equity fund that will invest in North Africa and the Middle East (MENA), a senior executive said on Monday.

The fund, the second PE fund launched by Invest AD for the MENA region, aims to achieve a net internal rate of return of at least 25 percent, Invest AD’s head of private equity Samir Assaad told the Reuters Private Equity and Hedge Funds Summit.

Invest AD, which has seed capital of $75 million from the Abu Dhabi government for its second MENA fund, hopes to achieve a first closing of at least $200 million for the fund by June.

It has already invested 50 million euros in Turkish logistics firm EKOL which will be injected into the new PE fund when it becomes operational.

“We started the fund-raising process last week and had very good interest from Asia,” Assaad said by phone.

Invest AD, formerly known as Abu Dhabi Investment Company, has a mandate to attract and manage third-party funds for investments in the MENA region as part of a broad strategy to develop the emirate’s financial services industry.

Invest AD is owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), which focuses on countries closer to home and is a separate entity from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.

Abu Dhabi is one of seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and its capital city.