In a move to expand its asset management specialization services, NCB Capital (NCBC), the investment banking arm of National Commercial Bank, has acquired The Capital Partnership (TCP), a leading specialist asset manager to both institutional and high net worth clients. The acquisition of TCP brings many client benefits and accelerates NCB Capital's growth specifically in asset management, where it will bring new capabilities in global absolute return products. NCB Capital's wealth management offering will also be enhanced with the addition of specialist expertise in offshore, individually-customized funds of funds, trust structuring, family governance and estate planning, as well as broad portfolio analysis skills. TCP, set up in 1998 to provide sophisticated investment services to the families of its founding partner, has offices in London and Dubai. TCP Group's ultimate holding company is incorporated in the Dubai International Financial Centre. It is an advisor to a number of leading regional institutions and family groups and has an average investor relationship size of more than $25 million. Commenting on the acquisition, Abdulkareem Abu Al-Nasr, chief executive officer of National Commercial Bank and chairman of NCB Capital, said: “We are very pleased to welcome TCP and its experienced team to our wider banking group. It will allow us to offer an even broader range of services and products to our many wealth management clients here in the Kingdom.” NCBC has around $14 billion of assets under management. Ali Ojjeh and Ahmed Ben Halim, founding partners of TCP, said: “We are delighted to be joining such a prestigious and growing firm and are looking forward to offering our specialist expertise in asset allocation and investment processes to an even wider group of clients, both in the Kingdom and throughout the GCC.” This is the largest acquisition that NCB Capital has made since its was set up in April 2007. The move is seen as an important step towards meeting its goal of providing the best services to its clients and becoming a leader in wealth and asset management. No detail on the structure or size of the deal has been made public. TCP will retain its name. Summing up the acquisition, Ahmed Farid, chief executive officer of NCB Capital, said:”This is a significant acquisition for us. It quickly brings scale and reach in key areas, as well as high value-added services for high net worth individuals and family offices. The cultures of both our firms are highly aligned and benefits will accrue from this move immediately.” NCBC's acquisition of TCP as part of its strategic plans to bring new capital equity absolute return products to the Middle East and North African region. TCP has been working with NCB for several years. According to a spokesman for TCP, the company will now be able to expand significantly its distribution network. The link-up also gives TCP access to the resources of NCBC and NCB for seeding managers and new product development. NCBC gains access to customized fund products, trust structure and other wealth management activities. The mix of product services and its distribution reach will give TCP access to a wide range of ultra high net worth individuals. TCP will be offering customized funds of funds, trust structuring, family governance, portfolio analysis and estate planning. According to Ahmed Farid, CEO of NCBC, the acquisition gives the bank scale and reach in key areas and opens up more areas of high value added services for high net worth individuals and family offices. NCBC is the largest financial asset manager in the Middle East and operates Islamic banking services. As the largest bank by capitalization the Arab world, NCB is rated A+ by Standard and Poor's. NCB Capital was advised by JPMorgan Chase, Linklaters and Deloitte. TCP was advised by Olswang and BDO. __
