MerchantBridge and local partner Mr Mohammed Al Dhoheyan announced the official opening of the first Development and Management House for Investments (“DMHI”) office. The Investment Banking institution, which was granted an Investment Services License in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in May 2006, offers corporate and project finance advisory, equity and debt capital arranging as well as asset management, wealth management and brokerage services.
Initially staffed by a core management team led by Eric le Blan, Partner at MerchantBridge & Head of Corporate Finance, DMHI, and a start up team of approximately 7 investment professionals, the company aims to leverage the enormous potential of the rapidly developing Saudi market, which is forecast to undertake over $630bn in projects over the next ten years.
“Saudi Arabia is the driving force behind the dynamic economic growth in the Middle East region, and we expect to see this trend continue as the country moves towards membership of the WTO,” commented Basil Al Rahim, Managing Partner, MerchantBridge. “The Kingdom currently has the most mature private sector of any country around the Gulf and wider Middle East region, which is a reflection of the Government’s long standing commitment to privatization. With corporate entities of over 30 years old operating in the Kingdom we see the trend towards public flotations and privatization continuing, in a measured and considered fashion as projects are properly structured and advised, and investor education becomes more widespread.”
At the time of the investment banking license issue, Saudi Arabia had a market capitalization of $500bn, yet the Capital Market Authority in the Kingdom had only issued 35 licenses, demonstrating the enormous potential for the industry in the Kingdom, and one of the driving factors for the creation of DMHI. The team is in the process of raising the company’s capital to meet existing and potential business opportunities, and expects to break even in its first year of operation.
“DMHI and MerchantBridge are ideally placed to introduce Saudi Arabian companies to the international market, and attract international investors to the region,” added Eric le Blan, Partner, MerchantBridge. “With a strong focus on Islamic finance models and innovative financial structures, we believe that DMHI will operate beyond the existing product range of financial houses in the Kingdom.”
MerchantBridge’s previous corporate finance experience in Saudi Arabia includes work with the UK government to advise on its offset program in Saudi Arabia, advising major western corporate clients, such as Vodafone, Telekom Austria and DuPont on investment activities in Saudi Arabia, and raising equity for local companies, including National Polypropylene Company (“NPCC”) as well as providing strategic advisory to other major clients such as the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency of Bahrain.
MerchantBridge is based in London with operations in Zurich, Geneva, Dubai and Baghdad, and is strongly focused on the Middle East, with a mandate to offer independent and creative services with a global reach to governments, companies and family businesses with an economic interest. MerchantBridge is also active in the fields of corporate finance, private equity and asset management through its private banking arm, Bank Frey in Zurich.
About Merchant Bridge:
MerchantBridge is a full service, financial investment and advisory operation, dedicated to cross-border business between the Middle East and developed Western financial markets. It has sectoral expertise in corporate finance and direct investment covering a wide range of economic sectors including chemicals, financial institutions, manufacturing, oil & gas, telecommunications, real estate, tourism and hotels. MerchantBridge was established in 2002 by a team of senior bankers with the aim of providing a genuinely “tailor made” financial service to clients in the Middle East region and is jointly owned by its management and prominent financial investors from the Middle East region.
