Shocker! BR Shetty's company that owns UAE Exchange sold for $1

Abu Dhabi, Dec 18: UAE-based Indian billionaire BR Shetty’s company Finablr Plc is getting ready to selling its business to an Israeli-UAE consortium for $1, capping the collapse of a business that had a market value of 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) last December.

Finablr, the scandal-marred platform for payments and foreign exchange solutions, announced that it has entered into ‘a definitive agreement’ with Global Fintech Investments Holding (GFIH), an affiliate of Prism Group of Israel, to sell to GFIH the entire issued share capital of Finablr Limited.

Prism Group, linked to a former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has formed a consortium with Abu Dhabi's Royal Strategic Partners (RSP) in connection with the transaction. RSP, which is headed by Abubaker Al Khoori, is affiliated with Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

Finablr had a market value of $2 billion last December. It reported more than $1 billion in undisclosed debts in April.

The deal is also among the first significant commercial transactions between UAE and Israeli companies after the countries signed a normalization accord earlier this year. Since then, agreements have been signed-in sectors ranging from banking to mobile phone services. Israel’s Finance Ministry sees potential for annual bilateral trade starting at $2 billion and building up to $6.5 billion.

In April, Finablr found out about $1 billion of debt hidden from its board after a US investment firm alleged that NMC Health inflated cash balances and understated its debt. This scandal pushed Finablr’s sister firm NMC Health Plc — which was at one stage valued at $10 billion on the LSE and was a top healthcare provider in the UAE — into administration.

In an LSE filing, Finablr said, “In return for the transfer of Finablr to GFIH, in addition to the nominal initial consideration of US$ 1 payable, GFIH is providing working capital support to the company to enable it to continue to operate and support various stakeholders, including employees and creditors.”