UAE HR firm Reach acquires Saudi counterpart, taps $20m from NBK Capital Partners

Dubai: A Dubai-based HR consultancy Reach Group is acquiring a Saudi outsourcing firm, and financing it through a $20 million facility from DIFC-headquartered NBK Capital Partners.

Reach focuses on supplying skilled and semi-skilled employees to government and quasi-government entities and private sector companies. The company has close to 6,000 outsourced full-time employees, making it one of the largest temporary staffing providers in the UAE. The Saudi buy is being done through a “local conglomerate”.

On the deal with NBK Capital Partners, “This transaction provides additional capital for us to expand into Saudi Arabia, which we’ve viewed as a natural growth area for our business,” said Reach’s CEO Malik Melhem. The firm currently has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The Sharia-compliant financing marks the first investment from NBK Capital Partners Shari’ah Credit Opportunities Fund. The investment follows the first close of the $300 million Fund, anchored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and other institutional investors.