PODS Sold To Bahrain Company

Clearwater, Fla.-based PODS Enterprises Inc. has been purchased for $443 million by a Bahrain-based company, Arcapita Inc., stakeholders in Caribou Coffee and Church’s Chicken, and the U.S. arm of Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank. The Middle East firm makes investments that comply with Islamic law known as Shari’ah.

While both Arcapita and PODS have declined to speak to the press about the deal, the Federal Trade Commission granted the storage container company an early clearance on antitrust concerns. TheDeal.com, an online resource for corporate and financial dealmakers, has reported that PODS Acquisition Holding acquired PODS Inc. for $443 million on November 14, 2007. In a Nov. 6, 2007 filing with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations, PODS Acquisition Corp. listed Arcapita’s Atlanta office as its principal address. The four company officers listed are part of Arcapita’s corporate investment team.

Arcapita Bank, formerly known as First Islamic Investment Bank, has a diverse portfolio of investments. It joined the Florida Venture Forum less than a year ago, according to Robin Kovaleski, forum spokeswoman. Moreover, Arcapita represents an emerging class of Middle Eastern investor seeking to diversify out of the region into Western infrastructure-type assets. The company targets European and U.S. investments. Typically, it will buy an asset and then offer equity stakes to Middle Eastern institutions and wealthy individuals.

Arcapita’s strategy is interesting in that it is devoted to the Shari’ah, Islamic law, which bars the company from investing in financial firms that offer credit or charge interest, or companies associated with pornography, gambling, pork, or alcohol. In addition, all company investments require the approval of a Shari’ah board. The four-member body includes Islamic religious scholars and a retired judge from Saudi Arabia’s supreme court. Among those on Arcapita’s advisory board are Georgia’s former Sen. Wyche Fowler, Jr. and Glenn Hubbard, who chaired President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2001 to 2003.