(Bloomberg) -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. signed an agreement to buy 60% of the payments business of First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC at a $1.15 billion valuation.
FAB, which completed the carve-out of its Magnati payments business into a fully-owned subsidiary in April, will retain a 40% stake. The sale adds to a flurry of dealmaking in the payments industry, with banks seeking to offload operations as they struggle to compete with specialist providers.
Dubai-based Mashreqbank PSC is also exploring a sale of its payments business in a deal that could value the division at around $500 million, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg last week.
Brookfield is an active investor in the Middle East and is among parties that made first-round bids for a minority stake in Kuwaiti conglomerate Alshaya Group’s Starbucks Corp. franchise. The Canadian investor was the frontrunner to acquire Magnati, Bloomberg reported this month.
FAB, the UAE’s largest lender, has a market value of about $60 billion. It’s separately bid for a majority stake in EFG-Hermes, valuing the firm at $1.2 billion, in what’s likely to be the biggest acquisition yet in Egypt by the lender.
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