UK consultancy Alvarez & Marsal to provide operational roadmap for new UAE Exchange owner

It expects to close deal to buy Bahrain remittance company BFC shortly

Last updated: April 06, 2021 | 13:31

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UAE Exchange operations had come to a halt after financial mismanagement and fund diversion was discovered early last year. Under new ownership, the company is expecting a revival.

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Dubai: The new owner of UAE Exchange Centre has brought in a specialist consultancy Alvarez & Marsal to come up with an operational roadmap for what was once UAE's biggest remittance company.

A consortium of Prism Group AG and Royal Strategic Partners had acquired Finablr, the holding company that was once owned by Indian billionaire B.R. Shetty. Finablr owned and operated UAE Exchange Centre and XPress Money. The consortium had announced last month that it is in advanced takeover discussions with BFC Group Holdings, a Bahrain-based remittance firm.

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The deal is expected to be finalised by the second quarter of this financial year. Alvarez & Marsal, which is also handling the administration of Abu Dhabi-based hospital operator NMC Healthcare, will assist with due diligence on future acquisitions by the consortium.

The acquisition of Finablr Ltd. was agreed at the end of last year. The consortium is channeling this deal through Global Fintech Investment Holdings.

If the deal with Bahrain's BFC Group Holdings do take place, it would create the "largest remittance services and currency exchange group in the MENA region with licences to operate in over 30 countries". “Alvarez & Marsal will play a key role in helping us to identify and complete M&A opportunities and advise us on the creation of a new corporate structure for Finablr," said Dr. Hamad Al-Ali, CEO of Royal Strategic Partners. "We have assembled an advisory team that is well-placed to help us realise our plan to build a major regional fintech company.”