Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Mashreq sells majority stake in NeoBank in $385m deal

By Gavin Gibbon
Mashreq Bank sells Neopay Creative Commons/World Economic Forum
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurir, chairman of Mashreq Bank. Net profit before tax for the first six months of 2024 grew 24% to AED4.5 billion

Mashreq Bank has sold a 65 percent stake in its subsidiary IDFAA Payments, more commonly known as NeoPay, in a deal worth $385 million.

The Dubai-listed lender sold the stake to Bahrain-headquartered alternative asset manager Arcapita Group Holdings Limited and Turkish fintech company Dgpays SARL, according to a bourse filing.

Person, Electronics, Mobile Phone

Newsletter
Get the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week

It said Mashreq would retain a minority stake with plans to enter into a “long-term shareholder arrangement with the purchasers for the future growth of the business”.

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and consents.

NeoPay was launched in March 2022 as a payment platform that helps businesses process digital transactions.

The business processed more than 400 million transactions in 2023 and is used by over 10,000 merchants in the country.

Mashreq’s net profit increased 14 percent year on year to AED4 billion ($1.1 billion) in the first six months of 2024 on higher interest income, business expansion and minimal risk costs.

Net profit before tax grew 24 percent to AED4.5 billion.

Register now: It’s easy and free

AGBI registered members can access even more of our unique analysis and perspective on business and economics in the Middle East.

Why sign uP

  • Exclusive weekly email from our editor-in-chief
  • Personalised weekly emails for your preferred industry sectors
  • Read and download our insight packed white papers
  • Access to our mobile app
  • Prioritised access to live events
Register for free

I’ll register later

Latest articles

Shoppers in Tripoli, northern Lebanon. Rising food prices contributed to a small inflation increase in March

Lebanon inflation falls to 14% as exchange rate stabilises

Lebanon’s annual inflation rate fell to 14 percent in March, from 70 percent in the same month last year, according to news reports. The primary cause of the drop is the stabilisation of the country’s exchange rate, Arab News reported, citing data from the Central Administration of Statistics in Beirut. The rate has stood at […]

Morocco’s energy minister Leila Benali said the pipeline project has "made considerable progress" and is in the execution stage

Morocco and Nigeria agree terms for $25bn gas pipeline

Morocco and Nigeria have agreed to create a joint venture to manage a long-planned $25 billion pipeline which will ship gas to Europe, a Moroccan minister has said. Leila Benali, minister of energy transition and sustainable development, told Morocco’s parliament that a floating gas storage terminal would also be installed at Nador on the Mediterranean […]

The latest payment brings DAE's total insurance recovery to $601m

Dubai jet leaser wins $282m settlement in Russian case

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), the Middle East’s largest aviation leasing company, has received a $282 million cash settlement from unnamed insurers for aircraft leased to Russian Federation carriers. This latest payment brings DAE’s total insurance recovery to $601 million.  With this settlement DAE and its partners have resolved all claims against the involved insurance and […]

IMF Syria new chief Van Rooden is currently mission chief for Ukraine and an assistant director in the IMF's European Department

IMF appoints first mission chief to Syria in 14 years

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed Ron van Rooden as head of its mission to Syria, the first country mission chief since war erupted there 14 years ago. Syria’s finance minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh said in a written statement, that van Rooden’s appointment came “following our request”. “This important appointment marks an important step […]

RAK sets out $272m plan for ‘our version of Central Park’

Ras Al Khaimah is preparing an AED1 billion ($272 million) mixed-use masterplan to link two of its most prominent waterfront developments – Al Hamra and Al Marjan Island. The project is being led by Marjan, the master developer of freehold properties in the northern emirate, and will have its official launch later this year. “What […]

FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2023

Saudi ticketing app webook plans European expansion

Riyadh-based Webook, which describes itself as Saudi Arabia’s largest booking platform for events and experiences, says it is expanding beyond the Middle East into Europe to tap a growing market for ticketing. Set up in 2016 under the name Hala Yalla, Webook initially focussed as a service to book football pitches, before expanding to include […]

Street vendors in the historic Balad district of Jeddah. Falling oil prices have hit the Saudi economy

Saudi Arabia’s debt burden ‘to rise more quickly’, says IMF

The International Monetary Fund has revised its forecast for Saudi Arabia’s debt burden as tumbling oil prices dent the country’s revenues. The IMF is now projecting that Saudi government gross debt will be 44.5 percent of GDP by 2029, according to the twice-yearly Fiscal Monitor released in Washington DC on Wednesday.  In last October’s report, […]

alalah Port, Oman. Oman's hydrocarbon exports jumped by $6.5 billion in 2024, primarily due to the explosive growth in refined product sales from the Duqm Refinery

Duqm refinery fuels $6.5bn growth in Oman’s oil exports

Oman’s hydrocarbon exports swelled by nearly $6.5 billion last year due to a surge in sales of refined products following the commissioning of the sultanate’s largest oil refinery. The Gulf country’s hydrocarbon exports surged from OR13.8 billion ($35.8 billion) in 2023 by nearly 18 percent to OR16.3 billion ($42.4 billion) in 2024. Crude exports edged […]

A Russian oil rig in the Caspian Sea. India's increasing reliance on cheaper Russian oil erodes the dominance of traditional Middle Eastern suppliers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq

Gulf share of India oil market slides on Russia gains

India’s pivot toward discounted Russian crude oil has accelerated, eroding the dominance of traditional Middle Eastern suppliers in one of the world’s fastest-growing oil markets. In the Indian fiscal year ending March 31, Russia retained its position as India’s top oil supplier for a third year in row, Reuters reported, based on ship tracking data […]

Industrial shipping Maersk container shipping at Salalah Oman Middle east

Oman’s free zones attracted $4bn in investments last year

Private businesses invested OR1.6 billion ($4.1 billion) in Oman’s free zones, economic zones and industrial cities last year, highlighting the sultanate’s growing appeal as a regional business hub. The sultanate signed a total of 325 investment agreements across six major jurisdictions, Oman Daily Observer, a local news outlet, reported, citing a report by Duqm Economist […]

New factories and licenses issued in Saudi Arabia's industrial sector are projected to generate over 5,600 jobs, marking significant growth in February

New licences drive strong Saudi industrial growth

Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector recorded strong growth in February, with 105 new industrial licences issued, representing a 66.7 percent month-on-month increase. These newly awarded licences represent around SAR1 billion ($272 million) in investments and are expected to create 1,504 jobs, according to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources’ National Industrial and […]

Sandstone rock formations rise above the Hisma desert, Neom

Aiman Al Mudaifer named permanent CEO of Neom

Neom is to appoint Aiman Al Mudaifer as its permanent chief executive, more than five months after he took on the role of acting CEO. Al Mudaifer has worked for the Public Investment Fund, the $925 billion sovereign wealth fund backing Neom, since 2018. He took over the CEO’s post at Neom, one of the […]