Gulf Capital, an asset management company recently bought a majority stake in Medica Holding, a health aesthetic firm and has been looking for more acquisitions in Southeast Asia, Africa & the Middle East, reports source.
UAE-based private equity firm Gulf Capital has bought a 70% stake in health aesthetic firm Medica, which provides cosmetics & dermatology equipment in the Middle East. The deal value has not been disclosed yet.
Karim el Solh, CEO of Gulf Capital was reportedly quoted saying that the deal is an intersection of healthcare sector and consumer spending sector. These sectors are growing at a very fast pace. The $10 billion health aesthetic market is expected to grow 10 percent annually over next 5 years, while it has been growing 15 percent annually, in the Gulf. The company has expanded its private equity group to 22 and will hire 2 more teams for its private debt team, he added
The investment in the acquisition will be made from third private equity fund of Gulf Capitals. The fund is worth $750 million and still has one-third of its cash to be deployed. The company is planning to launch its fourth private equity firm worth more than $750 million, this year, as it eyes three to five new deals in the coming months. Karim el Solh added that the firm is to work on exiting three investments.
As per sources close to the matter, Gulf Capital has been looking at sectors like-healthcare, e-commerce, payments, fintech & education. In the last 18 months, the company finalized 8 deals and made 5 exits, with exits almost equal to capital deployed. Gulf Capital is one of the largest private equity players in the Middle East & North Africa, with approximately $3 billion in assets under management. Abraaj Capital, based in Dubai had been the biggest private equity firm in the region until it dissolved last year due to a dispute with investors.
Source credits: https://www.reuters.com/article/gulf-capital-ma/uaes-gulf-capital-eyes-acquisitions-plans-new-fund-ceo-idUSL8N2331O0
