Mon, 06/30/2014 - 15:37

Abu Dhabi, UAE (June 29, 2014) — Waha Capital, a Abu Dhabi-based investment company, has established a new unit to drive its future investments in the energy sector across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. “The energy sector across the MENA region continues to grow rapidly, presenting significant investment opportunities for regional private sector companies such as Waha Capital. We are establishing a dedicated and experienced investment team focusing on the sector, and have identified a strong pipeline of potential acquisitions,” said Salem Al Noaimi, chief executive officer and managing director of Waha Capital. The unit, which is part of Waha Capital’s Principal Investments division, has made its first investment—in National Petroleum Services (NPS)—as part of a consortium that has acquired the UAE-headquartered oil and gas services company. The NPS transaction has a total equity value of $370 million (AED 1.36 billion), with Waha Capital taking a 20.56 percent equity stake for $76 million (AED 279 million). With roots tracing back to the 1970s, NPS is a leading oilfield services provider with approximately 1,300 employees and 20 subsidiaries operating in key MENA and Southeast Asian markets, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Malaysia, Brunei, India and Turkmenistan. NPS specializes in well services, drilling and work-over services, well testing and wireline logging services. “NPS is a well-established company with a strong regional management team. We are excited to support the company in continuing to expand its service offering and geographic reach,” said Al Noaimi. Waha Capital is active in principal investments, capital markets and industrial real estate.