KHALEEJ TIMES, Saturday, Dec 19, 2020 | Jamadi Al Awwal 4, 1442
Finablr sold to UAE-Israeli consortium for $1
Emirates:
Finablr, the scandal-marred platform for payments and foreign exchange
solutions, announced on Thursday that it has entered into "a definitive
agreement" with Global Fintech Investments Holding (GFIH), an affiliate of
Prism Group of Israel, to sell to GFIH the entire issued share capital of
Finablr Limited, its wholly owned subsidiary, for "a nominal initial
consideration of $1."
Prism Group, linked to a former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has formed a
consortium with Abu Dhabi's Royal Strategic Partners (RSP) in connection with
the transaction.
RSP, which is headed by Abubaker Al Khoori, is affiliated with Sheikh Hazza bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.
Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, is the non-executive
chairman of Prism Advance Solutions, the London-registered company which was
announced in October as a joint bidder with RSP for Finablr's assets, including
its foreign exchange subsidiary, UAE Exchange, which are majority owned by
Indian entrepreneur BR Shetty.
The transaction will constitute the sale by Finablr of its entire business and
operations. "In return for the transfer of Finablr Limited to GFIH, in addition
to the nominal initial consideration of $1 payable, GFIH will be providing
working capital support to the cash-strapped Finablr to enable it to continue to
operate and to support various stakeholders, including employees and creditors
of the Target Group (Finablr Limited)," the embattled payments platform group
said in a filing on London Stock Exchange.
Both UK and UAE regulators are expected to give their approval.
As per the agreement terms, GFIH will also undertake to support and facilitate
Finablr's continued efforts to recover funds from third parties in respect of
possible historic wrongdoing within the group.
"In this regard, subject to certain conditions, the Company and GFIH have agreed
that GFIH shall pay to the Company, by way of additional consideration, a
further amount equal to 25 per cent of any such funds received by the Target
Group from third parties, up to a maximum of $190 million," said the company.
Finablr plans to use the nominal consideration and any further consideration
received to return value to its creditors, followed by its shareholders.
Shares of London-listed Finablr were suspended in March amid the unfolding of
shocking scandals and allegations of forgery, fraud and whopping debts amounting
to $6.6 billion with NMC Health, the bankrupt healthcare group founded by Shetty,
who has since been staying in his Indian home state of Karnataka.
Since March Finablr has lost control of its Travelex foreign exchange business
after it reported over $ 1 billion in undisclosed debt. Its subsidiary UAE
Exchange, which accounted for a large chunk of the group's revenue, was placed
under the supervision of the Central Bank of the UAE in March.
Prism claims it has commitments from institutional investors, including hedge
funds and sovereign wealth funds from the US and the Gulf, to fund the
transaction.
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