MANAMA, BAHRAIN: GFH Financial Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Schroders Capital to invest in select private equity and venture capital deals on a discretionary basis.

Schroders Capital has US$70 billion of assets under management and is the private markets investment division of Schroders, the global asset management group with US$968 billion of assets on behalf of its clients.

The partnership will significantly strengthen GFH’s global private equity investments platform with access to attractive buyout and growth companies in Europe and the Americas.

Under the strategic arrangement, GFH will invest in select investments alongside Schroders Capital across a range of defensive and downturn resistant sectors such as healthcare, education, technology and consumer.  

One of the key co-investments already undertaken is in a global healthcare education provider, which has clear leadership positions across several European countries as well as in Latin America. The company, which has a large network of 35k students across 10 countries with 140 sites worldwide, has implemented strong digital capabilities and is solidly profitable with tremendous growth potential.

Commenting, Mr. Hammad Younis, CIO of GFH, said, “This strategic partnership with Schroders Capital strongly aligns with GFH’s vision of building a robust European and American private equity investment platform, an area where we continue to focus and expand both organically as well as inorganically through partnerships, JVs and acquisitions of GP stakes. We believe Schroders is the right partner for us given their market leading position and strong track record across private market strategies, particularly high growth segments such as healthcare and tech.”

Mr. Younis added, “Consistent with GFH’s philosophy of investing in resilient, ESG impact sectors, we’re also pleased to sign our first co-investment with Schroders in the healthcare space. We’ve long identified healthcare as an important strategic area for growth and we believe that Covid has been a catalyst to further capital allocation to the sector in order to build a safe and sustainable world.”

Rainer Ender, Head of Private Equity, Schroders Capital, said, “We are pleased to work with GFH on attractive private equity and venture capital investment opportunities and are looking forward to collaborating on further investments. The investment opportunities remain extensive and I am sure that by working together we can take advantage of some exciting private equity and venture capital deals. We are already looking forward to giving GFH the opportunity to benefit from attractive buyout and growth companies in Europe and the Americas.”