Dubai: Shuaa Capital plans to raise about $150 million via a rights issue after one of its former executives and key shareholders reduced his stake in the Dubai-based investment bank.
The firm is working with Houlihan Lokey on the capital raise that will be used to bolster its equity base and potentially bring in new investors, according to people familiar with the matter.
The funds will also be used to repay a bond due at the end of October, the people said, asking not to be named because the information is private. Shuaa is seeking consent from bondholders to extend the payment deadline for the debt because the rights issue is unlikely to be completed before it matures, the people said.
Representatives for Shuaa and Houlihan Lokey declined to comment.
Former managing director Jassim Alseddiqi recently cut his holding in Shuaa to less than 5 per cent from about 25 per cent, according to a stock market filing earlier this week. In a LinkedIn post last month, Alseddiqi said he was stepping down to pursue interests in technology, research, and academia.
In recent years, the firm has undergone several restructurings, ownership and management changes. Its chief operating officer also resigned last month and the bank recently appointed Ahmed Alahmadi, a former employee of sovereign wealth funds ADQ and Mubadala Investment, to its board.
