Amanat terminates agreement to sell Middlesex University Dubai to SW Holding

The company says it will pursue investment and exit opportunities arising as a result of the pandemic

Amanat terminated an agreement to sell Middlesex University Dubai to Study World Education Holding Group. Sarah Dea/The National

Amanat Holdings, an education and healthcare investment firm, ended an agreement to sell its Middlesex University Dubai campus.

The Dubai-based company decided to "unilaterally terminate" a sale and purchase agreement between its subsidiary AHE Alpha, SW Holding and Study World Education Holding after completing its obligations under the agreement, Amanat said in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market on Wednesday.

"The decision to terminate the SPA was on the basis of protecting the best interest of Amanat Holding’s shareholders and to ensure adequate transparency after what had become a prolonged completion process," Mohamad Hamade, chief executive of Amanat, said.

Amanat has investments across education, health care and property sectors. Its education portfolio includes school operator Taaleem, Abu Dhabi University Holding and Middlesex University Dubai. It also owns property assets of the North London Collegiate School in Dubai.

Study World Education was founded by Indian businesswoman Vidhya Vinod and operates schools in Dubai, India, Sri Lanka and Malta, according to its website.

Middlesex University’s Dubai campus opened in January 2005 and has more than 3,500 students enrolled from more than 100 countries.

Amanat remains focused on finding exit opportunities across its portfolio and on pursuing new regional investments, particularly in the technology sector, to drive its topline growth and improve its returns, Mr Hamade said.

"We remain focused on and committed to exploring and seizing investment and exit opportunities with attractive valuations in the current investment climate," he said.

"These include special situation opportunities that have risen as a result of the pandemic or opportunities in the digital space, leveraging our strong positioning as a market consolidator in our core sectors."

Earlier this month, Amanat said it invested Dh18.4 million ($5m) in US education technology company BEGiN during a Series C financing round. The deal is its first venture capital investment and the funds will be used to help the New York company exploit business development opportunities in the region.

Amanat swung to a second quarter loss after lower contributions from its healthcare investments and a one-off provision affected quarterly earnings.

Net loss attributable to equity holders of the company for the three months to June 30 came in at Dh5.15m compared to a Dh14.44m profit for the same period in 2019