Arqaam Capital, the Dubai-based merging markets investment bank, has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Libya's Al Rashad Finance and Management Advisory JSC.The purchase agreement includes the business, operations and financial services licence of Rashad.
Following the close of the acquisition, the company will operate under the name Arqaam Capital Libya. Rashad has obtained initial approval for a financial services licence from the Libyan Stock Market and will request that the company's final licence will allow the company to buy and selling securities; advise on investments in securities; manage security portfolios and investment funds; promote subscriptions in securities; margin funding; and proprietary trading.
Rashad was founded in February 2012 to support institutions, businesses, governments and NGOs to plan, manage and execute development projects. Since then, Rashad has been engaged to support a variety of projects ranging from public financial management and organisational restructurings for government bodies to corporate finance support for a private construction business to the establishment of an NGO. Following the close of the acquisition, the Rashad team will join Arqaam Capital Libya and leverage Arqaam's regional network to enable clients to participate in projects and investments in Libya.
"We have seen increasing client interest into the region and have already established relationships with key public and private entities in the country," said Riad Meliti, Chief Executive Officer of Arqaam Capital. "This acquisition will provide us with additional on-the-ground insight into the Libyan market, which we will, in turn, be able to provide to our clients. Building on our recent expansion into Egypt, the addition of a Tripoli office is an important extension of the regional network we offer our clients."
"The International Monetary Fund has forecasted that Libya's nominal GDP will grow 121% in 2012. This startling growth projection is in line with our view on the country. We are very positive on the long-term prospects for the country's economy given its strong fundamentals such as GDP per capita, its youthful population and significant natural resources. We believe that the interim government will be able to leverage these fundamentals to make important strides in its reconstruction efforts and are confident that the country will be able to capture significant growth and stability in the coming years."
The proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including consent from the Libyan Stock Market. It is expected that the transaction will close in the fourth quarter of this year.
