KFH has initially agreed to contribute $100 million in equityand First Industrial has initially agreed to contribute about $17.6million, representing an 85% and 15% equity interest, respectively.First Industrial initially will sell up to eight properties to thefund, totaling about 1.6 million sf and valued at nearly $78million. The fund also will purchase a group of propertiescurrently under development by First Industrial, which will in turnmanage and lease the properties.

"This partnership enables First Industrial to fund its merchantdevelopment business and provides Kuwait Finance House with asignificant investment in a diversified industrial portfolio, byboth facility type and geography," says Mike Brennan, president andCEO of First Industrial.

KFH is a publicly traded, $7-billion financial institution,though 49% of its stock is held by the government of Kuwait. Whiletermed a "bank" in common usage, KFH is not a bank in the Westernsense, since it conducts its financial transactions in accordancewith Islamic Shareea'a (religious law), which prohibits the payingof interest. Islamic principles allow for other forms ofmoneymaking for investors, however, and KFH has grown in recentyears into an Arab financial entity of some size. Its foreign realestate investments already include residential properties in theUnited States, nursing homes and other properties in the UnitedKingdom and New Zealand.