Mannai Corp now sole owner of Damas with 19% stake buy from EFG-Hermes for $150mn

Mannai Corp and EFG-Hermes took control of Damas in 2012, with Mannai holding 66% of Damas and the Egyptian company 19%.

Reuters/Dubai

The private equity arm of Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes has sold its 19% stake in UAE jeweller Damas International to Qatar’s Mannai Corp for $150mn, the company said yesterday.

The deal, one of the few exits concluded in the Middle East in recent months, signalled a possible revival of the region’s private equity industry, which has been grappling with regional political turmoil and investor unease about the global economy.

The Qatari conglomerate will now hold 100% ownership of the jeweller. Reuters reported the deal earlier yesterday.

“This is a tremendous success, given that we bought the stake for $85mn in less than two years,” said Karim Moussa, the head of private equity at EFG Hermes. “The market has been suffering from lack of exit routes, but we will see more private equity sales going forward, either through initial public offerings or strategic acquisitions.”

Mannai and EFG-Hermes took control of the jeweller in 2012, with Mannai holding 66% of Damas and the Egyptian company 19%.

EFG-Hermes, one of the largest investment banks in the Middle East, had in May 2012 teamed with Mannai, whose operations span the oil and gas, automotive, travel and logistics sectors, and de-listed the jeweller from Nasdaq Dubai after acquiring it for $445mn.

“We will have a busy year ahead of us, especially with our new investment strategy. We see opportunities across Mena and we’re increasingly looking at Egypt and Africa,” Moussa said. Consumer-oriented sectors, healthcare and infrastructure are the most attractive for private equity investors, he said. The region, home to such private equity players as the UAE’s Abraaj Capital, the region’s largest local firm, Bahrain’s Investcorp, and Egypt’s Citadel Capital, has been sitting on billions of dollars collected in previous years by regional funds without being deployed.

EFG-Hermes’ Investment Banking division acted as financial adviser and Freshfields was the legal adviser to the private equity division on the Damas exit.