Under the banner: "Joining Forces for Sports & Financial Fitness",

The specialist savings & investments firm says: Our partnership with the National Basketball Champions is to support Bahrain's professional basketball and foster a savings culture for the Club's sporting community

Manama - 5 August 2015:- TAKAUD, the Bahrain based specialist provider of savings, investment and pension solutions for the MENA region, announces that it has signed a sponsorship agreement with Manama Sports Club making them the main and exclusive partner of their first basketball team, the current Bahrain league champions. The strategic deal underlines TAKAUD's commitment to supporting local community activities, and to backing up endeavors towards international-level professional basketball in Bahrain more specifically.

With the highest number of 19 wins of Bahrain basketball league title including the last three consecutive years, Manama Club have competently crowned themselves as the kings of Bahrain's basketball sport. The club has been making brilliant strides towards professional-level basketball in Bahrain.

The sponsorship agreement, which was signed recently at Manama Club in Juffair, establishes a special open-ended relationship between TAKAUD and Manama Club. According to the deal, TAKAUD's logo will be on the players' main shirt as well as the training kit and attire in more than 50 matches played by Manama Club during the League, the Super, the Cup games, and all summer tournaments and friendlies every year. 

Luc Metivier, TAKAUD's CEO, said: "Bahrain is our headquarters and home market where we seek to build close collaboration links in the community. Our sponsorship of Manama Club is a part of that. This initiative also sits alongside our commitment to promoting a healthy, life-enhancing lifestyle, which is rooted in everything we do."

"TAKAUD is pleased to be supporting and working alongside the Manama Club in the coming basketball league. On the one hand, we will have the opportunity to support an increasingly popular club and sport in Bahrain, while on the other we will also be able to work together on promoting a long-term financial planning and savings culture for both individuals and businesses" added Mr. Metivier.

Zuhair Kazerooni, Chairman of Manama Club, stated that TAKAUD is a unique and dynamic institution in Bahrain's financial industry, and one that offers people new ways and insights of financial planning and success.

"We will be very proud to have their logo on Manama Basketball shirts this season and hopefully for several coming years. Our long term aim as a club is to continue our Bahrain and GCC lead in basketball championship as well as reinforcing our quest to become the No1 professional basketball in the Arab World" he said.

"'Sports & Financial Fitness' is the banner that identifies the new spirited blue basketball team of Manama Club this coming season" he added.

A special dimension to the TAKAUAD-Manama Club partnership is that it entails facilitating a long-term savings plan for each of the club's first team players. The same financial benefit is also being planned for all the children joining the new and first-of-its-kind Manama Club Basketball Training Academy scheduled to open before the end of this year. 

This will surely be a nice way of incentivizing young and hopeful athletes towards future sports professionalism. More important, it will be very insightful for their families to consider such an arrangement as a nice package of letting their kids practice a favoured sports hobby while also gradually building their future financial foundation.

"In my opinion, opening a savings plan for a child is a great way to give juniors a head start on a lifetime of thrift" said Mr Kazerooni.

He concluded that Manama Club has had fantastic three seasons playing exciting basketball in front of full capacity crowd and winning the league title for the last consecutive years. We look forward to another thrilling season starting this September and playing under TAKAUD logo." said Mr. Kazerooni.

-Ends-

About Takaud Savings and Pensions B.S.C (c)
TAKAUD Savings and Pensions B.S.C. (c) is licensed as an Investment Business Firm (Category 1) by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and is a closed joint stock company incorporated in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

TAKAUD provides long term savings, investment and pension solutions to individuals and corporations in the local and expatriate communities across the MENA region.

TAKAUD is 50% owned by Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) K.S.C. (c) (KIPCO) and 50% by United Gulf Bank a member of The KIPCO Group.

The KIPCO Group is one of the biggest holding companies in the Middle East and North Africa, with consolidated assets of US$ 31.3 billion as at 31 December, 2014. The Group has significant ownership interests in over 60 companies operating across 26 countries. The group's main business sectors are financial services, media, real estate and manufacturing. Through its core companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, KIPCO also has interests in the education and medical sectors.

TAKAUD Savings and Pensions B.S.C. (c),
UGB Tower 7th Floor | Diplomatic Area |P.O Box 65167| Manama| Kingdom of Bahrain
Office: (+973) 17511611
Email: info@takaud.com
www.takaud.com               

About Manama Club:
Manama Sports Club is a Bahraini sports club based in based in Manama - the Juffair area. It is one of the oldest sports club in Bahrain and the Gulf region, officially inaugurated in 1946, although it existed prior to that for more than 2 decades under different names. Manama Club is active in basketball, football and bowling. Manama Club has won the Bahraini basketball league 19 times, and its basketball team resembles most of Bahrain national basketball team.

© Press Release 2015