UAE telecoms and technology company e&'s digital transformation arm, e& enterprise, has completed the acquisition of Turkey-based digital firm GlassHouse, boosting its portfolio and allowing it to enter three markets in the competitive Middle East and Africa region.
The $60 million purchase, which was announced in June, marks the company's entry into Turkey, Qatar and South Africa, e& said on Thursday in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.
That brings the e& group's operational presence to 34 markets, in which, the company provides the latest cloud and its associated managed services in key sectors such as banking and finance, backed by German software company SAP.
The acquisition boosts e&'s "value proposition by reinforcing our capabilities, adding vertical expertise and expanding into high-growth markets", said Salvador Anglada, chief executive of e& enterprise.
"This acquisition is another bold step in our journey to becoming a regional leader in end-to-end digital transformation.”
Istanbul-based GlassHouse is a major player in Turkey's cloud services sector, offering managed cloud, private sovereign cloud and SAP Infrastructure services to more than 2,000 companies in multiple geographies, according to the statement.
It is particularly active in the financial services sector, serving nine of the top 10 banks in Turkey, it added.
Enterprises and governments continue to embrace digital transformation as they prepare for the society and economy of the future, especially as more emerging technologies pave the way for more seamless and inclusive activity.
This has prompted the adaptation of these innovative technologies to streamline and optimise operations in order to expand consumer bases and add new revenue lines amid intensifying competition.
In the Middle East and Africa region, the sector has become highly competitive, with global investments flowing in – especially to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's two biggest economies – to bolster this strategy.
Digital solutions backed by robust infrastructure and consulting expertise have helped companies and users navigate through an end-to-end digital transformation journey. The growth in providing essential digital services has been a key driver in e& enterprise's aggressive expansion.
For e& enterprise, acquisitions have always been a focus: the broadening of its portfolio reflects the success of its strategy over the past years and has enabled it to grow both organically and inorganically, Mr Anglada previously told The National.
Among its most notable acquisitions are a majority stake in Dubai-based peer-to-peer lending platform Beehive and a 65 per cent stake in Bespin Global MEA, created as a joint venture company with South Korea's Bespin Global.
Digital transformation is also an enormous opportunity for both economies and businesses that provide related services.
Revenue in the Middle East and Africa digital transformation market is projected to surpass $217 billion by 2030, from an estimated $37.8 billion in 2023, growing at a compound annual rate of 28.4 per cent, latest data from Grand View Research shows.
The "robust portfolio" of e& enterprise, comprising "innovative strategies", will help GlassHouse clients "accelerate their digital transformation journey", said Alp Bağrıaçık, chief executive of GlassHouse.
As a group, e& has maintained a strong performance. For the second quarter of 2024, e&'s net profit jumped by more than a quarter year-on-year to nearly Dh3.2 billion ($861.8 million), as its subscriber base grew 5 per cent to almost 15 million, the company reported earlier this month.
Revenue hit nearly Dh14.1 billion in the three months ending June, up 3.5 per cent annually. The company’s board of directors also approved an interim dividend of 41.5 fils a share for the first half of 2024.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
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Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
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The cost of Covid testing around the world
Egypt
Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists
Information can be found through VFS Global.
Jordan
Dh212
Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.
Cambodia
Dh478
Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.
Zanzibar
AED 295
Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.
Abu Dhabi
Dh85
Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.
UK
From Dh400
Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
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Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
