Business News of Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Source: Fin24

Abraaj Group acquires majority stake in Ghana Home Loans

The Abraaj Group, an investor operating in growth markets has acquired a majority stake in Ghana Home Loans (GHL).

Established in 2006, GHL, headquartered in Accra, has a primary focus on the Ghanaian residential home buyer, offering mortgages for first time buyers, as well as buy to let, equity release, refinance and home completion products.

It has also supplemented traditional mortgage lending with consumer education via housing fairs and seminars.

Abraaj has invested through one of its funds in a firm that operates at the intersection of real estate and financial services, two of the fastest growing sectors in Ghana and the wider West African sub-region.

“We are confident that our support will now further drive scale and consolidate the business’ market leadership position and build a world-class financial institution in terms of its operating systems, processes, human capital and ethics," said Jacob Kholi, a partner at Abraaj.

"We are also looking forward to creating greater operational efficiency through IT-enabled processes and looking at broadening its portfolio to include new product offerings.”

"Together, we have laid out a clear plan for value creation for all stakeholders. We look forward to executing this plan together," said Dominic Adu, CEO of GHL.

Abraaj's track record of investing in Ghana dates back to the mid-1990s.

Earlier this year Abraaj acquired Fan Milk International, for instance.

The Abraaj Group is a private equity investor operating in the growth markets of Africa, Latin America, Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, Turkey and Central Asia.

Employing over 300 people, the Group has more than 25 country offices spread across six regional hubs in Dubai, Istanbul, Mexico City, Mumbai, Nairobi and Singapore.

Abraaj currently manages $7.5bn across more than 20 sector and country-specific funds.