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Moelis & Company has been appointed by a consortium that includes Israel’s Prism Group and Abu Dhabi’s Royal Strategic Partners (RSP) to advise on the restructuring and transformation of its recent acquisition: Finablr Ltd and its subsidiaries. With the appointment of the independent investment bank, UAE Exchange and Xpress Money, the flagship brands of the troubled Finablr Group, are expected to restart operations soon.
In December 2020, Finablr, a major provider of cross border financial services in the UAE, sold its entire business and operations to the Israeli-UAE consortium for a nominal $1 after running into financial difficulties.
Moelis & Company will advise the consortium’s SPV Global Fintech Investment Holdings (GFIH) on developing a capital structure proposal to be presented to the Group’s financial creditors in the coming weeks. The consortium has been funding urgent working capital needs to stabilise the business and to preserve value and is seeking to restart operations and develop a business plan for the Group going forward, according to a statement from the consortium.
The appointment of Moelis & Company will lead to the swift re-opening of UAE Exchange, the Abu Dhabi-based remittance house, whose branches have been closed since March 2020, along with the group’s other leading products including global money transfer group Xpress Money and businesses in international markets including India, the statement said.
The consortium intends to revitalise the group in order to secure the status of UAE Exchange and Xpress Money as key pillars of the UAE’s financial system in one of the world’s most dynamic, exciting and fastest-growing business destinations, it said.
Dr. Hamad Al-Ali, CEO of Royal Strategic Partners, said: “Together with our partners, we have continued to make tremendous progress over the past months with the leading global advisors assisting us on this deal. Our engagement of Moelis as our financial advisor is yet another testament to our commitment to reviving the business swiftly whilst keeping in mind the best interests of its lenders, customers and employees.”
Prism's co-founder Amir Nagammy said: “We are committed to implementing a long term group-wide transformation programme at Finablr so that it can better serve its customers, strengthen its balance sheet and play a leading role in driving economic growth in the UAE.”
“The fintech market is evolving rapidly and Finablr’s transformation will build on its proprietary technology to ensure that it is well placed to drive further innovation and investment in leading digital payment platforms and services for all its global customers,” he added.
Finablr listed its shares in London in 2019. Its founder, the Indian billionaire B.R. Shetty, resigned as co-chairman in August after allegations surfaced earlier in the year that some of the companies backed by him had undisclosed debt and fraudulent transactions. In March 2020 Finablr said it was preparing for potential insolvency.
(Reporting by Seban Scaria; editing by Daniel Luiz)
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