Abraj Private Equity has reached an agreement to sell its stake in Middlesex University to Amana Holding for $100 million.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, a preliminary agreement has been signed, but the deal has not yet been finalized.
Dubai-based Amana is set to acquire all campuses of the UK-based university, which has annual revenue of approximately $40 million.
Amana’s shares rose 3.9 percent on the Dubai Stock Exchange before paring gains to 1.6 percent in yesterday’s trading. “The acquisition of Middlesex came at an opportune time for Amana Holding, and at a difficult time for Abraaj,” said Essam Kasabiya, chief financial analyst at MENA Corp in Dubai.
He emphasized that the stock’s performance indicates investors are satisfied with the acquisition, noting that the purchase of Abraaj’s stake further diversifies Amana’s investment portfolio. It is worth noting that “Amana Holding“ intends to expand in the education sector in the Middle East, where it owns a 35 percent stake in Abu Dhabi University Holding and approximately 22 percent in ”Ta’leem Holding.” Last December, the company announced its intention to spend 1.8 billion dirhams on acquisitions in the health and education sectors. This agreement comes after months of turmoil at ”Abtaraj” following its dispute with four of its investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Finance Corporation, over the use of their funds in a $1 billion healthcare fund; the company denied any misuse of these funds. Dubai-based Abraaj Private Equity Group has finally agreed to sell its fund management operations in Latin America, North Africa, Turkey, and sub-Saharan Africa to the U.S. investment management firm Coloni Capital. The sale of the fund management operations is part of a temporary liquidation and restructuring process ordered by a court; the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. According to Reuters, the two companies stated that Colony Capital has also agreed to temporarily oversee the rest of Abraaj Group’s funds.
