NBK Capital Partners, a financial services company with operations across the Middle East, recently closed a USD 20 million acquisition financing deal with Reach Group to back its cross-border expansion.

Reach Group is a well-known HR outsourcing firm based out of the UAE.

The modern and pioneering Sharia-compliant financing indicates the pilot investment from NBK Capital Partners Shari’ah Credit Opportunities Fund. This is a fund recommended by NBK Capital Partners (the “Shari’ah Credit Opportunities Fund”).

Reach Group is a company that dedicatedly works toward providing skilled and semi-skilled workforce to government and quasi-government units as well as private sector companies. Post achieving a significant expansion over the last ten years, the company makes a confident entry into the huge Saudi market by taking over an HR Recruitment Firm in a strategic partnership inked with a local business.

Investment details

The investment arises post the first successful closure of USD 300 million Shari’ah Credit Opportunities Fund secured by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and various other institutional investors that were revealed last month.

The Shari’ah Credit Opportunities Fund is projected to invest in around 10 to 12 investment opportunities between USD 15 million to USD 50 million through a period of eight years to produce an attractive cash yield and total returns.

The third-generation private credit fund is different. It blends the successful private credit advisory track record of NBK Capital Partners with a mandatory directive to invest in privately negotiated Shari’ah-compliant credit investments.

The NBK Capital Partners team has initiated advising on Shari’ah-compliant credit investments. The company has successfully achieved 14 private credit investments to date across three fund vehicles, out of which five have been Shari’ah-compliant.

The experts’ take

Yaser Moustafa, CEO, NBK Capital Partners, stated, “Reach is a highly reputable leader in outsourced staffing solutions in the region. We were pleased to work with its founder and management team to structure a financing solution that allowed Reach to enter the Saudi market while positioning their business for additional growth with our capital and strategic support.”

Reach’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer Malik Melhem mentioned, “This transaction provides additional capital for us to expand into Saudi Arabia, which we’ve viewed as a natural growth area for our business. NBK Capital Partners has a great track record with flexible funding solutions, and we are excited to have their support.”

Sikander Ahmed, Managing Director and Head of Private Credit at NBK Capital Partners, said: “By providing flexible financing solutions to regional companies in the midst of growth and transformative transitions, we have been able to establish ourselves as reliable and value-add partner that can underwrite complex situations. We are pleased to support the company and its management in regional expansion.”