Qatar’s Mannai Corporation and Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes have jointly made a cash bid to buy Damas International, a leading jewellery and watch dealer in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.The bid values the entire issued share capital of Damas at about $445mn, said a joint statement from Mannai Corporation and EFG Hermes.Under the terms of the bid, the consortium, Golden Investments proposes to acquire the entire issued share capital of Damas for $0.45 a share, which translates as a 45% premium to Damas’s closing price of $0.31 on January 9, 2012 (the last trading day prior to the bid period).Following the completion of the bid, Mannai and EFG will hold indirect interests of 66% and 19% respectively in Damas.It is also proposed that Tawfique Abdullah, Tawhid Abdullah and Tamjid Abdullah – the current majority shareholders of Damas – will be required to re-invest part of their bid consideration, in a collective indirect interest of 15% in the business consistent with arrangements previously agreed with their creditors.The bid has being recommended unanimously by the board of Damas and is subject to formal acceptance by its shareholders. Mannai has obtained “irrevocable” undertakings to accept the bid when made from shareholders holding about 77.8% of the shares in Damas.The bid was formally approved by Mannai shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held last week.“Our bid to acquire Damas is testament to its sound business model and promising growth potential…“We look forward to successfully completing this transaction which also represents a significant step towards our international growth strategy,” Mannai Corporation CEO Alekh Grewal said.Given that Mannai has received ‘irrevocable” undertakings in relation to about 77.8% of Damas’ existing issued share capital, it is anticipated that the bid should become “unconditional” to acceptances and potentially wholly unconditional within two weeks of posting the bid document, a Mannai spokesman said.“Should the bid become wholly unconditional, the consortium intends to seek the delisting and cancellation of trading of Damas shares from Nasdaq Dubai,“Furthermore, if the consortium acquired 90% of the Damas shares, it will exercise its legal right to compulsorily acquire the remaining Damas shares on the same terms as the bid,” the spokesman added.Expecting that the deal will enable Damas to embark on its next phase of development, EFG Hermes managing director Karim Moussa said: “Mannai’s excellent operational track record combined with our deep investments expertise will provide a unique platform to further strengthen Damas’ market position and expand its product offering.”Mannai and EFG Hermes are ideal partners for Damas to enable the company to begin the next chapter of its business growth, according to Damas International CEO Anan Fakhreddin.