Dear friend of Abraaj,

As you have seen in the press these last few months have been extremely difficult for all of us at Abraaj. As an important stakeholder in our ecosystem, I wanted to bring you up to date personally on where we stand.

Let me first state that when I founded Abraaj in Dubai in 2002, I never thought this business would end up spanning the globe to become a leading investor in growth markets. On the other hand, I did see the opportunity to create a company that could unlock value in fast-growing, but often overlooked, markets whilst delivering compelling returns for investors. As I look back, I can see Abraaj’s track record as a testament to this mission and I hope you can too. Together with many talented professionals we built a global business and successfully deployed private capital in some of the fastest growing regions of the world and in sectors that are transformative for the economy and the middle-class community that powers it – be that in education, healthcare, financial services, or infrastructure. We have created jobs, built soft and hard infrastructure and expanded life sustaining services to reach a multitude of individuals and families.

As we deployed and returned capital to our investors we also gave back to the communities that we touched though our time, partnerships and corporate philanthropy – many Abraaj employees participated in mentoring entrepreneurs, speaking in class rooms, or raising funds for special causes – as we did most recently for young Afghan kids needing heart surgery. We worked alongside amazing NGOs and organizations helping them scale their delivery systems and guiding their progress into our markets for maximum impact in the spheres of employment, entrepreneurship, arts and innovation and healthcare. These actions did not meet unanimous support internally in Abraaj – yet this was an element of our culture that I was most proud of and never compromised on – we have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of less fortunate people along our journey.

Earlier this year gaps in our internal governance and operating procedures were discovered and as a result we continue to navigate the business through very challenging circumstances. As you can imagine, the negative reports on Abraaj, many of which are out of context, have significantly damaged our firm’s value and undermined the business at different points over the course of the last four months. Moreover, the way in which these factors (many of which were private) have all emerged as a matter of public record, has only aided to our loss of value.

As you will see from the announcement, the Board of Abraaj Holdings has filed an application for provisional liquidation in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. By entering into this voluntary process, under the supervision of the Court, we believe that the rights of all stakeholders can be protected through an orderly restructuring, enabling the maximum value to be realized and the Group’s obligations to be met. It was not an easy decision to make, but we believe this is the right decision for the firm going forward.

In parallel, we have also received strong interest from potential acquirers for the operations of our fund management business, Abraaj Investment Management Limited (AIML). Talks are at an advanced stage and we continue to work together to achieve the most effective outcome for the firm.

The recent events have caused Abraaj employees and our stakeholders undeniable pain and turbulence for which I apologize unreservedly. Despite all the rumors and briefings against us, and me personally, to my knowledge there was no intentional wrongdoing. In retrospect, however, I think things could have been done differently, and we might not be where we are today.

It is my strong belief that at its core, Abraaj has a deep team of experienced leaders and talented employees, many of whom have grown through the ranks over the last 16 years. There is great potential to take this platform forwards.

I want to salute all those who have been part of this journey with me – and you are one of those. It has been a privilege for my colleagues and I to work with you and your organizations in trying to make this world a better place. I certainly plan on continuing this journey and hope that our paths cross again in the future.

The writer is chairman Pathfinder Group.