EFG-Hermes Sells Stake in Damas for $150M

Last month EFG-Hermes, a leading investment bank in the Arab world, sold its 19 percent stake in Damas International Limited to the Qatari Mannai Corporation for $150 million, Rapaport reported. EFG-Hermes realized $65 million in capital gains to a fund it directly manages, providing an internal rate of return of 40 percent.
Qatari Mannai now holds 100 percent stake in Damas, which is a leading luxury jeweler with more than 300 outlets in The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.  Since going private, Damas management has applied a restructuring program in accordance with the vision of the new shareholders and restructured debt.
Karim Moussa, co-chair of the EFG-Hermes direct investment sector and member of the Damas board of directors, said he was pleased to work with the Mannai Corporation on restructuring the jeweler, which has doubled profit and increased operating earnings nearly 10 times. He added that the achievement of such growth in such a short period of time confirms the quality management model adopted by EFG-Hermes.
"This consolidates the leading position we occupy among direct investment companies in the region," he said, adding that Damas succeeded in building a cohesive business model that would achieve growth in the future under the leadership of the Mannai Corporation.