Payments FinTech Wizz to Acquire UAE Exchange
Payments solutions FinTech Wizz Financial is preparing to rebrand after getting the approval of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to acquire UAE Exchange U.K. Limited. The approval comes on the heels of green lights from the United Arab Emirates and regulatory entities in the United States and the Middle East. Wizz Financial will rebrand UAE Exchange U.K. as it focuses on synchronizing all its offerings between the U.S., U.K., UAE and India, according to the release.
DP World’s Imperial acquires stake in Nigerian FMCG
Imperial, a company owned by DP World, now owns a majority of Africa FMCG Distribution Ltd. (AFMCG). From a supply chain and fintech viewpoint, DP World finds strategic value in the acquisition of the Nigerian company. It also strengthens its position on a continent with 54 countries and 1.4 billion people. The action fits in with Dubai’s five-year aim to increase trade ties with worldwide markets that are showing promise.
Eshraq Investments closer to acquire Goldilocks Fund
Abu Dhabi-based Eshraq Investments said it was in the final stages of its full acquisition of Goldilocks Fund. The company is in the process of reducing the share capital from AED2.325 billion to AED1.427 billion to offset accumulated losses and is also working on the subsequent capital increase in exchange for the acquisition. This acquisition is expected to enable the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed Eshraq to increase its profitability.
Bahrain’s GFH acquires US student housing portfolio
According to GFH, its investment strategy in the student housing sector focuses on building a diversified portfolio that targets universities within the top public 150 universities in the US, which are considered flagship universities in their respective states. These are institutions with a proven pedigree, strong academic and sporting facilities and that have shown steady growth in enrolments year on year. The Bahrain-based financial group pointed out that the student housing sector had performed well historically, even during the pandemic, as was evident by an average stable occupancy rate well above 90% and an equivalent high rental collections rate.
Kuwait Finance House to buy Bahrain’s Ahli United
KFH will offer one share for every 2.695 shares of Ahli, implying an offer price of $1.04 per share, a 13% premium to the stock’s Wednesday close. Kuwait’s central bank, which had asked KFH to reconsider the deal during the pandemic in 2020, approved the purchase on Wednesday. The initial offer in 2019 was worth $8.8 billion, with KFH offering one share for every 2.32558 Ahli shares. KFH’s shares have risen 66% since then, valuing the lender at $25.8 billion. Ahli is up 27% in the same period, giving the bank a market value of $10.3 billion.
Dar Al Takaful and Watania complete merger
Watania shareholders received 0.734375 DAT shares for every Watania share that they owned, to create DAT, with a total issued share capital of Dhs260,156,250. Starting July 4, the merged company is trading on the Dubai Financial Market. The company will also leverage its future-looking operating model to optimize sales channels and cross-selling opportunities through increased geographic reach and by capitalizing on its larger underwriting capacity, to improve re-takaful/ reinsurance terms and offer reliable, more comprehensive, and favorable coverage for participants across several differentiated products.
UAE-based Lyve acquires Jeebly
The acquisition is part of Lyve’s plans for the next two years, with more than $150 million in planned investments, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. It did not, however, disclose the financial details of its deal with Jeebly. Lyve, which has operations in 20 countries, uses cloud-based platforms and services to enable “hundreds of millions of orders” every month on behalf of leading brands across the e-commerce, food and beverage, grocery and healthcare industries. Established in 2016, Jeebly has onboarded more than 500 key global and regional clients across several industries.
