Arcapita, the Islamic investment bank, is focusing on pushing into the Middle East and Asia as its blend of private equity, real estate and infrastructure investment seeks new markets.

The Bahrain-based privately held bank, which helped pioneer Islamic investment banking about 10 years ago by deconstructing conventional instruments and rebuilding them in line with shariah, says it is sticking to a longstanding plan to develop its US and European portfolios before moving on to regional and Asian markets.