EFG Hermes’ UAE unit to invest $21.5 mln in asset manager FIM

EFG Hermes UAE Limited, a wholly-owned unit by Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes, announced Wednesday it will invest $21.5 million in Frontier Investment Management Partners LTD (FIM) as part of plans to expand its asset management business.

The unit has entered into definitive agreements with FIM to pump the anticipated investments.

Established in 2008, FIM is one of the region’s leading asset managers with $1.6 billion of assets under management. Once the deal is completed, EFG Hermes will have $4.5 billion of assets under management, the bank added in a statement.

The transaction has already been approved by the Dubai Financial Supervisory Authority, the bank said.

EFG Hermes, which has a presence in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Oman, is one of the largest investment banks in the Middle East. Following the completion of the FIM transaction, EFG will have $4.5 billion of public and private market AUMs.

Karim Moussa, head of asset management and private equity at EFG Hermes, said EFG Hermes had found a strong partner in FIM’s founder and CEO Hedi Ben Mlouka and his team.

“I look forward to working with them on developing further their edge while offering the FIM current product portfolio through our growing network of regional and international institutional clients,” Moussa said in a statement.

Hermes said it would own a 50 percent stake in FIM through the agreement while the remaining 50 percent will continue to be held by Ben Mlouka.