By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: Mannai Corporation, one of the most diversified listed companies in Qatar Exchange, is likely to get final regulatory approvals by next month to acquired 51% stake in a French IT firm—GFI Informatique— at a whopping price of over a billion Qatari riyals.
“We are waiting for the last French regulatory approval and hopeful that it will be done by the end of this April,” Alekh Grewal, Group CEO and Director of Mannai Corporation told The Peninsula yesterday on the sidelines of the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).
“The Company (GFI Informatique) has big operations in France. In addition, it also has development centres in Spain, Portugal and Morocco,” he said.
He added that the Public Listed company has wide-range of products, clients and significant exposure to outsourcing businesses with a total annual turnover of about €900m (about QR3.66bn).
“The price we quoted have been accepted by the major stakeholders of the Company. The deal is currently for 51% stake but effectively once we acquire majority stakes, we will be in concert with two current shareholders to make tender offer to the market to acquire all the balance shares.”
“As touched on earlier, in pursuit of new opportunities for growth and further diversification,
Mannai made an offer in December 2015 to acquire a 51% stake in GFI Informatique, a French Public Company, for a consideration of approximately €290m (over QR1.18bn). GFI specialises in IT solutions in France and across a number of countries in Europe. Mannai’s bid has been accepted by the Board of GFI and is presently awaiting regulatory approval in France.
The business of GFI will add a European dimension to Mannai’s business base and further improve the diversity of Mannai’s earnings stream,” said Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mannai in his speech at the company’s AGM.
The Chiarman’s speech was read by Sheikh Suhaim bin Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani, Vice Chairman of the Company, who chaired the meeting on Sheikh Hamad’s behalf, and highlighted the company’s financial performance in 2015.
The AGM ratified all the agenda of the meeting, including the Board’s recommendation to distributing a cash dividend of 50% (QR5 per share).
The company had reported a net profit of QR533m for the last financial year ended December 31, 2015. The Group’s turnover in 2015 stood at QR5.9bn. The Return on Equity was 24 percent and Earnings Per Share was QR 11.68.
Sheikh Suhaim added: “The capital and reserves of Mannai have almost tripled over the last 5 years from QR866m to QR 2.4bn at the end of 2015, and earnings from overseas operations have grown to 43% of the overall profit of the Group. Qatar has continued to provide a solid base for the Company and its future growth.”
Meanwhile, Alekh (the Group CEO) said that the acquisition of the French company will further diversify Mannai’s international footprint and earnings stream. “The reason for acquiring the French IT company is because we have good presence in Qatar’s IT sector, and this will help us expand our IT businesses overseas.”
He further said that the Mannai zeroed down on GFI Informatique after a lot of research on companies, and the acquisition has been done with due diligence. “The company still has a lot of potential and we are now planning to enter new segments of business such as telecom and banking sector.” The Peninsula
