Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is in talks to buy the payments business of the UAE’s largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Canadian investor is the frontrunner to acquire the Magnati unit, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. A deal will likely value Magnati at more than $1 billion, the people said.
FAB completed the carveout of its payments business into a fully-owned subsidiary in April and has been working with Morgan Stanley to identify suitors for the business, Bloomberg News has reported. A sale would add to a flurry of dealmaking in the payments industry, with banks seeking to offload operations as they struggle to compete with specialist providers.
FAB has a market value of $60 billion. It’s separately bid for a majority stake in EFG Hermes, valuing the firm at $1.2 billion, in what’s likely to be the biggest acquisition yet in Egypt by the lender.
Read more: BNN Bloomberg
