Abu Dhabi completes Shuaa acquisition

21 November 2016

Dubai-based investment bank has new main shareholder

Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) has acquired 48.36 per cent of shares in Dubai’s Shuaa Capital, according to a statement to the Dubai Financial Market.

It paid AED363m ($99m) for 515 million shares in the company. Jassim Alseddiqi, CEO of ADFG, has been elected as the new chairman of Shuaa.

ADFG agreed to buy Shuaa from Dubai Banking Group, part of state-owned Dubai Group, in June 2016.

Local bank Emirates NBD arranged the sale.

Dubai Group is selling stakes in several financial companies as part of debt restructuring deal, including Omani Bank Muscat and Egyptian EFG Hermes.

Shuaa announced a net loss of AED35m in the third quarter of 2016, widening from AED29m in the third quarter of 2015. The investment bank was forced to increase provisioning due to high levels of non-performing loans in its small and medium enterprise (SME) lending division.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.