Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Jassim Alseddiqi, Chairman of GFH Financial Group (GFH), rang the market opening bell on Tuesday at Nasdaq Dubai to celebrate the listing of the Group’s $300 million Sukuk on the region’s international exchange.

The Sukuk is a landmark achievement for GFH as it enters the international debt capital markets. The capital raised supports the expansion of Bahrain-based GFH’s activities, enhancing the financial position of the Group and funding its next phase of growth.

The five-year Sukuk was oversubscribed 2.5 times with a total book size exceeding $750 million. 53% of the issuance has been allocated to regional investors and 47% to international investors. Fund managers accounted for 61% of the investors and 39% were financial institutions.

Jassim Alseddiqi, Chairman of GFH Financial Group, said: “Listing our Sukuk on a well-regulated and international trading platform like Nasdaq Dubai, will expand GFH’s reach and visibility among the global and regional investor community. The overwhelming response received on our Sukuk issuance demonstrates the strong confidence investors have in GFH and its future potential. As we embark on the next phase of our growth, we remain committed to further strengthening our position as a leading regional and international financial group.”

Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, Secretary General of Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) and Chairman of Dubai Financial Market (DFM), said: “This listing by GFH Financial Group, one of the region’s most prominent institutions, further strengthens the longstanding ties between the capital markets of Bahrain and Dubai. Dubai is committed to increasing its collaboration in Islamic finance with institutions across the GCC as the Emirate expands its role as one of the largest venues in the world for Sukuk listings.”

Dubai’s Sukuk listings by value now total $65.995 billion. UAE issuers account for 47% of these by value with 53% from issuers based in other countries.

Abdul Wahed Al Fahim, Chairman of Nasdaq Dubai, said: “As the region’s international exchange, Nasdaq Dubai is positioned to provide Sukuk listed on its market with a high public profile globally and regionally. In 2020 and beyond we will build on the strong growth trend in our Sukuk market, which attracted its highest annual value of $14.15 billion of new listings in 2019.”

Hamed Ali, Chief Executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said: “GFH’s listing is an important step forward in Nasdaq Dubai’s successful strategy of attracting high quality Islamic capital markets issuers across a wide range of industry sectors, from the region and internationally. We are further expanding our relationships in the Sukuk asset class to support the needs of issuers, investors and the wider economy.”

GFH’s Sukuk listing on Nasdaq Dubai took place on February 23, 2020.

GFH was the first non-UAE company to be included in Nasdaq Dubai’s equity futures market in 2018. Trading the futures enables investors to take positions on price movements in the company’s shares listed on Dubai Financial Market. Shares of GFH are also traded on the Bahrain Bourse and Boursa Kuwait.

GFH is one of the most recognised financial groups in the Gulf region. Its businesses include Asset Management, Wealth Management, Commercial Banking and Real Estate Development. The Group’s operations are focused in the GCC, North Africa and India.

GFH Financial Group (GFH) has announced recently the acquisition of a 70 per cent stake in Marshal, a leading pan-MENA FinTech company, made through its investment banking arm, GFH Capital.

Dubai-headquartered Marshal, established in 1981, is the largest and oldest enabler of payment technology in the Middle East. It serves 16 countries and holds an 85 per cent plus market share in the UAE and a majority share across other regional markets in which it operates. Supporting its market leading position is more than 30-year relationship with Verifone, who has a more than 40 per cent share of the global POS devices market.

Delivering the most sophisticated transaction automation products and FinTech solutions in the market, Marshal’s clients include the region’s largest payment gateways and financial institutions including Network International, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Mashreq Bank, CrediMax and National Bank of Bahrain, to name a few.

Commenting Hisham Alrayes, CEO of GFH, said, “We’re pleased to announce GFH’s acquisition of a 70 per cent stake in Marshal, which is truly the leading FinTech pioneer and innovator for payment technologies in the Mena region.