Amanat agrees to buy Middlesex University's Dubai campus

Dubai - The deal value reportedly has been estimated at $100 million

Amanat Holdings, a Dubai-based healthcare and education investment company, continued its buyout spree with the acquisition of Middlesex University's Dubai campus, which is partly owned by the embattled Abraaj Group.

The deal value reportedly has been estimated at $100 million.

Amanat entered into a share purchase agreement on an "arm's length basis" on June 8 to acquire the university's owner and operator, Middlesex Associates, from Mocha Education Holdings Limited, it said in a statement to the Dubai bourse.

The Dubai Middlesex campus opened in January 2005 and has more than 3,000 students from over 100 nations. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in a range of subjects.

The new buyout deal comes on the heels of Amanat's acquisition of the real estate assets of North London Collegiate School (NLCS) Dubai for $94.5 million from PNC Investments, the parent company of Sobha Group owned by billionaire P.N.C. Menon.

In addition, Amanat has also committed up to $12.15 million to support the school's future expansion plans.

NLCS Dubai's campus has been built on the 38,000 square meter plot in Sobha Hartland - a $4 billion mixed-use development located at Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum City.

NLCS Dubai is the second overseas campus of NLCS. The London school has a key role in recruiting and training teaching staff at NLCS Dubai, with regular monitoring visits and inspections as well as substantial links between pupils and teachers across the schools.

"By entering into a sale and leaseback of NLCS Dubai, Amanat is investing in a high-quality asset that will generate long-term, secure cash flows and balance our portfolio across a diverse range of asset classes," Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, vice-chairman and managing director of Amanat Holdings, told Khaleej Times.

"Investing in the GCC's K-12 private education market is highly attractive; especially in the UAE, where expatriate families, a young population and growing interest from middle and higher income citizens are expected to increase demand for private school enrolment," said Dr Vayalil.

Listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), Amanat owns 35 per cent in Abu Dhabi University Holding, which it acquired in March this year for $86.5 million.

In April 2016, the company took a 16.34 per cent stake in Taaleem Holdings for $39.4 million and in December 2017 it increased the stake to 21.7 per cent for an additional $14 million.

Amanat's investment strategy is focused on significant minority or majority stakes in high-quality, high-growth potential companies exclusively in the healthcare and education sectors across the GCC and beyond.

- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com