Reuters | July 07, 2003

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was hailed as a hero for his response to the Sept. 11 attacks, announced Thursday a new investment fund with Bear Stearns that will invest in the burgeoning security industry.

Giuliani will work with the investment bank's merchant banking unit to launch a $300 million private equity fund that will invest in security and public safety companies, according to a joint statement from the former mayor and the firm.

"The world is facing challenges that it has never faced before," Giuliani said in a statement. He said he looked forward to "...helping companies as they seek to supply products and services that will make the U.S. and the world a safer place."

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, security has become a key issue in the United States, benefiting numerous companies as businesses, individuals and governments prepare for the possibility of futures attacks.

Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney in Manhattan who built his reputation prosecuting high-profile insider-trading cases and other financial crimes, and his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, will take stakes in companies held by the Bear Stearns fund.

The new fund is already examining companies that have developed identification technologies and may invest in firms working on ways to identify biological and chemical agents, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The venture will be part of Bear Stearns's $1.5 billion private-equity fund. Giuliani told the newspaper he expects the fund to be fully invested in less than 18 months.