Due diligence on Finablr on as part of Prism takeover offer
ABU DHABI/November 2: The race for the acquisition of the prized UAE Exchange Centre may hot up soon.
Daniel Varghese, who has been projected as the ‘real founder’ of the company in the early 80s by several media, is said to be planning to throw his hat in the ring.
However, businessbenchmark.news has not yet been able to confirm this officially from Daniel Varghese or his associates.
It was about a month back, Finablr, the troubled holding company of UAE Exchange Centre, has received a takeover offer from technology and software solutions firm, Prism Advance Solutions.
According to sources close to UAE Exchange, a due diligence initiated by Prism Advance Solutions, is already on as part of the Finablr takeover exercise.
It was reported that Prism has made the offer to purchase 100 per cent share capital of Finablr Ltd and its subsidiaries. “The London Stock Exchange (LSE) filing detailed that Prism wants to restructure and settle debts of the group and shuffle its board,” media reports said last month.
New bid
According to sources with access to the new development, Daniel Varghese, who in his late 70s, is currently in Abu Dhabi to explore the possibilities of discussing the prospects of taking over UAE Exchange with the Central Bank Authorities, who supervise the running of the UAE Exchange, with which Varghese claims to still carry an emotional bond.
However, unlike the Prism bid, Daniel Varghese won’t be keen on anything but the UAE Exchange Centre, the money transfer business which used to control about one-third the money transfer business in the UAE through its 150 odd branches in the country.
Varghese, it is understood, will try to hold a meeting with authorities of Central Bank of UAE, which is currently supervising the day-to-day running of the UAE Exchange.
Daniel Varghese is understood to be backed by investors from overseas, who are keen about the acquisition of the remittance business major.
Finbalr is a London Stock Exchange (LSE)-listed company, but the shares remain suspended from trading after an investigation has been ordered into the affairs and accounts of the company following the unearthing of a fraud valued in excess of $4 billion in NMC Healthcare, whose key promoters were common to Finablr too.
