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CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian company Concord International Investments aims to raise up to $750 million from Japanese investors seeking more exposure to Egypt's undervalued firms and growing economy, the fund manager's chairman told Reuters on Sunday.
"Right now we are in the process of launching a series of funds in Japan," Mohamed Younes said in a telephone interview.
Younes said the first, with $150 million to $200 million from Nikko Asset Management, would be launched by the end of the first quarter.
Nikko was owned by Citigroup until last year when a controlling stake was sold to Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co for $1.2 billion.
Concord will also open a private equity fund with $150 million and two other funds for listed securities with between $100 million and $200 million in the second half of 2010, Younes said, without naming the investors.
Younes said the firm identified Japan five years ago as a market ready to invest overseas again after a period of crisis, and that Egypt's fundamentals remained attractive.
"Four years ago we started our missionary work, knocking on doors and talking about Egypt," Younes said.
"What you are looking at is the growth rate for the economy, and at roughly 5 percent Egypt stands out. More importantly than that, the level of prices in Egypt is very low," he said.
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