Saudi Eksab, IDB Invest, CAF, and IDC Network Launch Impact Fund to Expand Growth Capital in North of Latin America

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 1, 2026--

Saudi Eksab for International Investments Company, IDB Invest, and IDC Network, as founding partners, launch the “Saudi Eksab, IDC Network Impact Fund” with the participation of CAF to support development financing for private growing companies. Valante Capital, IDC Network's private equity platform, was appointed as the Fund Manager and will lead the Fund’s investment execution across the region.

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The Fund will invest in established, high-growth businesses across consumer-driven sectors, including food, distribution and retail, primarily in Central America and the Caribbean, with potential investments in the Andean region.

The partnership brings together complementary capabilities and integration. Saudi Eksab originated and co-structured the investment platform and, as the anchor investor, contributes long-term institutional capital. IDB Invest and CAF bring extensive regional investment experience and capabilities in mobilizing private capital for development, while IDC Network, through Valante Capital, contributes deep regional market knowledge, origination capabilities and on-the-ground investment execution.

Beyond financing, Saudi Eksab, IDB Invest, and CAF will work with the fund manager to strengthen operational practices and align the fund with international standards. The Fund is also structured to enable broader institutional collaboration over time, creating opportunities for participation by institutional investors to join, with aligned thesis and investment objectives.

Yazeed Al Yahya, Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Eksab, said:

“This Fund marks Saudi Eksab’s first deployment and a significant milestone in translating our international investment mandate into action. Together with IDB Invest, CAF, and IDC Network, we are deploying long-term, purpose-driven capital into established businesses with strong growth potential across Central America and the Caribbean. It reflects our conviction that disciplined investment can generate sustainable financial returns alongside measurable socioeconomic impact, and that the right institutional partnerships can unlock opportunity, strengthen markets, and create lasting value and shared prosperity.”

James Scriven, Chief Executive Officer, IDB Invest, said:

“Latin America and the Caribbean have compelling businesses and investment opportunities. The value is in connecting them with a broader pool of global capital. Saudi Eksab’s first investment in the region is a strong example of how IDB Invest can help build new investment channels into the region, bringing together international capital, regional expertise and local execution to scale investment and development impact. ”

Richard Aitkenhead, CEO and Founder, IDC Network, said:

“This partnership represents an important step in IDC Network’s evolution as a multi-alternative asset manager with deep roots in NOLA’s development. By connecting the region’s opportunities with global capital, talent and best-in-class practices, we aim to build stronger investment platforms and help established businesses reach their full potential. Together with Saudi Eksab, IDB Invest and CAF, we can support sustainable growth, strengthen the region’s productive capacity and create enduring value for our investors and the communities in which we operate.”

Héctor Valero, Managing Partner, Valante Capital, said:

“Valante Capital was built on a strong conviction that private equity can generate attractive, sustainable returns while advancing the development of Northern Latin America (NOLA). This partnership reinforces our position as an emerging private equity force in the region, investing in and managing platforms that create positive, lasting impact. We are particularly focused on two priorities that are fundamental to the region’s future: strengthening food security and supporting the productive sector to drive business growth and the creation of quality jobs.”

Sergio Díaz, Executive President of CAF, said:

“Mobilizing more private capital toward productive investment is essential to accelerate growth, create quality jobs and strengthen the competitiveness of Latin America and the Caribbean. Partnerships like this one reinforce CAF’s role as a bridge for mobilizing global resources, expertise and investment toward the region, connecting international capital with companies and projects that can generate sustainable growth and long-term social and environmental impact. By bringing together Saudi Eksab’s long-term capital, IDB Invest and CAF’s regional development expertise, and IDC Network’s investment capabilities, the alliance creates a solid platform to scale private-sector opportunities where they can deliver the greatest impact.”

About Saudi Eksab

Saudi Eksab is an international investment entity with a dual mandate to deliver positive financial returns and measurable socioeconomic impact. With the aim to unlock the potential in frontier and emerging markets to create shared, global prosperity.

About IDB Invest

IDB Invest, a member of the IDB Group, is a multilateral development bank committed to promoting the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector. IDB Invest finances sustainable companies and projects to achieve financial results and maximize economic, social, and environmental development in the region. With a portfolio of $22 billion in assets under management and more than 400 clients in 25 countries, IDB Invest provides innovative financial solutions and advisory services that meet the needs of its clients in a variety of industries

About CAF

CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – is a multilateral development bank committed to improving the quality of life of people across the region. With 25 member countries, CAF promotes sustainable development and regional integration by financing projects in the public and private sectors, providing technical cooperation and other specialized services, and mobilizing resources from global partners. As part of this mandate, CAF advances private investment—particularly through investment vehicles with focus on impact and development as a strategic means of mobilizing and catalyzing capital at scale toward opportunities that deliver measurable development outcomes. The institution works with governments, companies and strategic partners to advance inclusive growth, climate action, infrastructure, productivity and greater connectivity between Latin America and the Caribbean and the world.

About IDC Network

IDC Network transforms lives and positively impacts society through its investments and projects. Its connected ecosystem spans alternative asset management, selected direct investments, and operating companies, supported by proprietary capital and institutional infrastructure. With over $3 billion in assets under management, $400 million in balance-sheet capital deployed, more than 400 family office investors across 30 countries, and a 30-year track record, IDC Network builds and invests with an ownership mindset for long-term compounding.

About Valante Capital

Valante Capital is the private equity strategy within IDC Network and an emerging force in private equity across Northern Latin America. The firm focuses on acquiring and transforming consumer and retail businesses through an active, hands-on investment model. Valante combines deep knowledge of regional stakeholders and opportunities with operational experience, executive talent, and a high-conviction approach to long-term value creation.

Valante’s investment strategy seeks to generate positive regional impact through two complementary priorities: strengthening food security and supporting productive-sector development and quality job creation.

Executives from the Saudi Eksab for International Investments Company, IDB Invest, CAF, Valante Capital and IDC Network launch the “Saudi Eksab IDC Network Impact Fund”, which will support development financing for private companies.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Investigators worked Thursday to determine why an Omani pilot stabbed the captain of a flight to Israel, causing the plane to plummet dangerously before others on board landed it in Saudi Arabia.

Passengers on the FlyDubai plane — which was carrying 174 people, mostly Israelis, from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv — have described how the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the copilot and stabilized a descent so sharp that the plane’s rudder was torn away.

“We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive,” Asaf Rajuan, who was among those who intervened, said in a statement shared by Israel’s presidency.

A regional official briefed on the investigation said the suspect, an Omani citizen, was under arrest and confirmed that Saudi authorities were working with countries, including Israel, to try to determine a motive. He said the UAE, the United States and Oman also were involved.

“All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing probe.

Video shot inside the plane by Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, shows the copilot on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back. The copilot’s name has not been released, and his condition was not known.

Capt. Smit Machchhar, widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight, was reportedly in stable condition, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said overnight.

Israeli intelligence and security officials were in Saudi Arabia to help investigate the copilot, according to another regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Israel has requested that the copilot be sent to Israel for the investigation, though it is unclear if that request will be granted, the official said.

Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but the countries have long cooperated on security and intelligence matters through alternative channels.

The UAE government said its own investigation team had begun looking into the attack and “whether it was linked to any terrorist purpose,” noting its authorities have jurisdiction because the plane is registered there and UAE law applies to crimes committed on board.

Asked if there is any indication of Iranian involvement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News “it’s too early to say.”

Netanyahu said he also spoke with the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident “at length” by phone and it seemed as though the copilot “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job.”

Oman's government has not commented.

Netanyahu had warned in recent days of heightened security threats, though he told CNN that Israel had received no specific warning.

The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered the war in Gaza — and weeks away from an election.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said most of the people on board were from Israel, along with others from India and the UAE. The U.S. State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.

FlyDubai has said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended. Netanyahu told CBS that Israel plans to fly home anyone stranded in Dubai as a result.

In the chaos that began about two and a half hours after takeoff, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk, according to Flightradar24. The site identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8.

FlyDubai said crew members on board helped secure the plane but released no details about them.

The head of the New Zealand flight school where the Indian captain trained, Philip Kean, called it “miraculous in the way that the airplane was never, ever kind of designed for that sort of dive and survive that, the airplane actually didn’t break up completely.”

Trump praised the U.S.-based Boeing for producing a plane “that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed.”

During the frantic search for a place to land, a person who heard the flight’s communications with air traffic control described the plane being turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in Tabuk in Saudi Arabia while passengers screamed in the background. The pilot’s voice was trembling as he called “mayday” and said a hijacking was taking place.

The air traffic controllers gave no reason for the refusals. The person who heard the communications spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Anna from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayoun, with blood stains on his shirt, who was aboard a Flydubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, is welcomed at the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)

An FlyDubai plane carrying Israeli passengers who had earlier been aboard another FlyDubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia approaches Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Passengers who experienced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, during a flight on FlyDubai plane, arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayoun, with blood stains on his shirt, who was aboard a Flydubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, is welcomed at the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)