Gulf Capital, an alternative asset management firm based in Abu Dhabi, has acquired a strategic stake in Geidea Solutions, a provider of electronic payment solutions and financial technologies in Saudi Arabia, for a total transaction value exceeding SAR 1 billion ($267 million).
Geidea Solutions was established in 2008 and is engaged in the development and deployment of e-banking point-of-sales solutions.
It has branches in Jeddah, Dammam, Abha and Tabuk in addition to 35 maintenance centers in different areas of the Kingdom and a research and development center in Bangalore, India.
Geidea Solutions (profile) boasts a client base of more than 50,000 merchants, with 175,000 POS terminals.
This deal is the fifth investment for Gulf Capital in the technology sector and is part of its efforts to develop the payment and digital financial transaction sector in the GCC.
Dr. Karim El Solh, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital, said: “We are delighted to partner with Geidea, the leading payment solutions company in Saudi Arabia and to help support it on its ambitious growth and expansion plans. Geidea’s digital technologies fuel the growth of the banking sector and the retail sector by providing digital financial transactions and the rapid transitioning to electronic payment systems. I look forward to working with Geidea towards achieving its vision of becoming the leader in the payment technology sector in the GCC region.”
Mr. Abdullah Faisal Al-Othman, Founder and President of Saudi Geidea, said: “The reliance of financial institutions on financial technology in order to further develop and grow is a fundamental pillar for shaping the future of Saudi Fintech in light of the Kingdom’s clear goal of achieving cashless cities to drive economic growth. This deal is a major step in supporting investments in these areas with the aim of providing real digital transformation in financial services within Saudi Vision 2030’s targets. We are confident that financial technology will make financial services faster, easier and less costly.”
Gulf Capital is one of the leading alternative asset management firms in the Middle East, investing across several asset classes including Private Equity, Private Debt and Real Estate. It currently manages over AED 14.7 billion ($4 billion) of assets across 10 funds and investment vehicles.
For more information, visit http://www.gulfcapital.com/.