UAE’s Amanat to net $43.6mn profit from Taaleem exit

The deal, which was announced on Thursday, will see Amanat, the GCC’s largest healthcare and education investment company, generate a total cash return of AED225 million ($61.3 million), including dividends, since its initial investment in Taaleem, one of the UAE’s largest providers of K-12 education.

A statement said the sale, which is Amanat’s first exit in five years, had been made to a “strategic buyer”, with the company expected to report a net gain on the sale of AED160 million ($43.6 million) as net income.

Hamad Alshamsi, Amanat’s chairman said: “In line with our strategic objective to assess our existing portfolio and each investments’ suitability to our platform-model, we exited a minority position as an avenue to recycle the cash for other investment opportunities that are more strategically aligned as an influential shareholder.”

Amanat first acquired a 16.3 percent stake in Taaleem, one of the largest leading providers of early childhood, primary and secondary education, in April 2016 and then increased its stake to 21.7 percent by December 2017. The group currently operates through nine facilities spread across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

“This exit has given Amanat further balance sheet bandwidth to explore and seize investment opportunities that will support us on our journey to drive topline growth and improve our return profile as we continue to deliver shareholder value.” Alshamsi added.

Amanat’s chairman Hamad Alshamsi

In March it was announced that Amanat had bought Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Centre (CMRC) in a deal worth $232 million (AED851 million) from private equity firm TVM Capital Healthcare.

Amanat, which has a paid-up capital of AED2.5 billion ($680.7 million), reported a net profit of $2.75 million for 2020, despite the economic impact of Covid-19, although this was down considerably by around 83 percent compared to the $16.3 million profits announced in 2019.