Dubai – 12 February 2017 — GFH Capital, the DIFC subsidiary of GFH Financial Group, today announced the successful closure of the subscription in AMA International Investments, which was recently launched in December 2016, with a value reaching USD 50 million. The AMA International Group “AMA” manages the largest network of educational institutions across Asia and other markets in Africa and the Middle East. AMA also has various other business interests ranging from information technology, banking, real estate and agriculture.

The placement was oversubscribed by investors from across the GCC. The investment, which will be in the form of a Shari’a compliant Murabaha facility, is expected to yield 11% cash-oncash returns and deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) of 11%.

Mr. Luay Ahmadi, Senior Executive Officer of GFH Capital, commented, “We are extremely pleased to have been able to bring this opportunity to our investors who are seeking attractive yields and returns. This oversubscription underscores the strength of the opportunity and those that we continue to bring to investors in the education space and others. We are pleased that investors have recognized the quality of this investment as well as GFH’s ongoing ability to extract and deliver value from our investments in the regional education sector.”

Mr. Ahmadi continued, “This reflects very positively over the Group and we expect to see strong ongoing performance from our education assets, including AMA, and look forward to working to build on the success they have achieved and their reputation for excellence in the Kingdom of Bahrain and across global markets where AMA is active”.

AMA’s educational operations cover basic education from pre-schools to Grade 12, postsecondary training, collegiate and university programmes and post-graduate degrees. Their network spans education facilities in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Xiamen, China, Nigeria, Oman, Iraq, Jeddah and the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In the Kingdom of Bahrain, AMA International operates an international university, an international school and a training institute. AMA University, the largest private university in the Kingdom, was established in 2002 and offers undergraduate and graduate programmes in the fields of finance and business administration, computer science and mechatronics engineering.

The University has the distinction of being the first and only ABET accredited private university in the Kingdom of Bahrain. ABET is the leading global accrediting body in applied sciences, engineering, computing and technology with accreditors from Harvard, MIT and similar institutions .

AMA International School, which started its operations in September 2004, is a leading K-12 learning facility. The School is the first in Bahrain to integrate robotics in the curriculum and has recently started offering the IB Diploma Program with the approval of the IB World School. The School incorporates an American and Cambridge curriculum paths and this is further enhanced by the world-renowned Great Explorations in Mathematics and Science (“GEMS) programme of the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley.

 


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About GFH Capital Limited:

GFH Capital, a subsidiary for GFH Financial Group, is a Dubai based investment bank and fund manager, providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. With a 10-year track record of top-performing investments and fund management, GFH Capital is one of the region’s long best-established private equity firms and one of the first to be licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

GFH Capital has undertaken and structured investments of more than USD 3 billion in over 40 companies and across 25 countries. The company has managed healthcare, technology, media, telecommunications (TMT) funds and financial institutions and is a regional leader and is a regionally recognised participant in education Technology and Health Care investments.

About AMA:

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in the Philippines, AMA is the largest education network in Asia and a member of the AMA Group of Companies. It is the company that manages and operates the following portfolio of schools in the Philippines: AMA Computer University, AMA Computer College, ABE International College, ACLC College, AMA Computer Learning Centers, and St. Augustine International School. The AMA Business model includes wholly owned schools, franchises and management of schools. AMA ensures the delivery of their programs through three key components: traditional classroom-based learning, synchronized learning through live-distance instruction and on-demand online learning modules. AMA schools comprise 150 campuses with over 125,000 students in the Philippines.

For further information please contact:
GFH Capital Limited
Media & Communications Department
Tel: +971 43651500
Email: media@gfh-cap.com