Gulf Credit Partners, the regional credit business which was launched by Gulf Capital, has successfully completed its first financing transaction for a locally based company SES FZCO (SES).
SES is a leading provider of temporary and medium term energy solutions that caters to the growing need for power across the Middle East, Africa, and South East Asia region. Gulf Credit Partners provides financing facilities to Private Equity Acquisitions and growth capital for small and medium sized companies in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey through its “Gulf Credit Opportunities Fund L.P.I.”
This first investment of $25 million by Gulf Credit Partners represents a milestone, both for Gulf Capital and the industry, at a time when credit for SMEs from traditional financing institutions and banks is tough, tight, and sometimes even non-existent.
The growth capital financing facility from Gulf Credit Partners provides a substantial growth capital to SES, which will be used to further capitalise on strengthening its market position and expanding its operating footprint in existing and new strategic markets.
“This first transaction for the Fund represents our strategy to support leading companies with solid track records and strong growth prospects. Mezzanine and structured debt presents a degree of flexibility generally unavailable in the region, which is both timely and extremely valuable to our clients. It also provides an alternative form of financing in a variety of situations, including private equity acquisitions as well as company loans, as in the case of SES,” Walid Cherif, the co-head of Gulf Credit Partners, said.
“We are thrilled to have such a significant support from ‘Gulf Credit Partners’, which proved during the negotiation process to be an outstanding organisation with a clear vision and leadership in mezzanine and structured credit financing in the region. The Fund has shown its confidence in our company by providing flexible growth capital, a form of financing that remains rare in our markets. Not only will Gulf Credit Partners’ financial support provide the means for us to achieve our growth targets, but also, as a long term financier, it will play a role in attracting more institutional investors and lenders to finance our continued growth,” Waleed Isaac, co-founder of SES, said.
“This transaction is in line with our overall strategy to finance companies in rapidly growing and defensive industries. The energy sector possesses tremendous growth potential, and we are delighted to be associated with SES, a strong and credible provider of power generation solutions,” Christopher Baines, co-head of Gulf Credit Partners, said.
“SES is well positioned to provide much needed power supply to an industry that suffers from a structural demand supply imbalance. Our Fund is off to a very positive start with a solid pipeline of transactions in healthcare, education, consumer services, and oil & gas servicing. We feel very confident that we can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to the investors in our ground breaking credit fund,” he said.
“We are impressed with the speed of execution of the financing package provided in a timely manner to finance the expansion of our fleet of generators. Our company will benefit tremendously from the flexibility provided by the Gulf Credit Partners team, which shows how important it is to partner with long term lenders who understand your business and believe in your growth plans,” Ghassan Ayoub, co-founder of SES, said.