FSRA GRANTS APPROVAL FOR WIZZ FINANCIAL TO ACQUIRE XPRESS MONEY SERVICES LIMITED

FSRA GRANTS APPROVAL FOR WIZZ FINANCIAL TO ACQUIRE XPRESS MONEY SERVICES LIMITED

Abu Dhabi– The Abu Dhabi Global Markets Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has granted change of control approval for Global Fintech Investments Holding, a special purpose vehicle of Wizz Financial, a leading global fintech company specializing in cross-border payments, and its partner Royal Strategic Partners (RSP), to acquire 100% of Xpress Money Services Limited. Wizz Financial will inform the FSRA when the acquisition of XMSL is completed and will now work with the regulatory authority to complete the formalities to implement the change of ownership.
This approval for change of control satisfies a main formality required for the completion of the transfer of the business of the Finablr Group pursuant to the sale and purchase agreement entered by all parties in December 2020.
The group has now received change of control approvals for UAE Exchange from the Central Bank of the UAE and for Xpress Money from the FSRA.
Additionally, the group is in advanced stages of obtaining the other COC for most of the subsidiaries in different jurisdictions.
“We are delighted to receive unconditional approval from the FSRA of Abu Dhabi Global Market, and we are very thankful for the confidence, support and commitment the FSRA and senior leadership of the country have shown us,” said Wizz Financial Co-Founder and Group Chairman Amir Nagammy.
“Xpress Money is one of the leading remittance brands in the world with an extensive global footprint. The approval from the FSRA for the change of control is an important milestone and represents the significant progress we have made” said Royal Strategic Partners CEO Dr. Hamad Al Ali.
XMSL Approval: Restricted

About Wizz Financial: Wizz Financial is a leading global fintech company specializing in cross-border payments, foreign exchange, micro-lending, digital wallets, and B2B payment technology solutions. It serves 25 million customers and 1,500 corporate and institutional clients in over 30 countries.
The Wizz Financial Group has more than 5,000 employees; relationships with 140 correspondent banks; and a presence across the MENA region, India, Africa and numerous subsidiaries in North America, Europe, and Asia. Wizz Financial is a subsidiary of Prism Group AG. For more information, visit www.wizzfinancial.com. Xpress Money is one of the leading money transfer brands in the world with a thriving presence across 5 continents. Established in 1999 in the United Kingdom, the brand has grown by leaps and bounds and has spread its geographical presence across 180 countries in over a decade. Working with some of the largest banks and non banking financial companies, XM is considered as one of the most dependable money transfer brands in the world that provides instant credits, omnichannel distribution, including account credits, mobile-wallet credits and cash.

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Notes to editors

1. Global Fintech Investments Holding AG (“GFIH”), a subsidiary of Prism Group AG (“Prism”) signed a share purchase agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Finablr Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Finablr PLC, in December 2020.

2. Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) is a leading global independent investment bank that provides strategic advice to a diverse client base. It offers comprehensive, globally integrated financial advisory services across all major industry sectors through its expert capabilities in M&A, Recapitalisation & Restructuring, Capital Markets and Financial Institution Advisory. It has offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

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Adrianus Schoorl

Group General Counsel and Head of Compliance

Adrianus (Aryan) Schoorl is presently the head of the financial services regulatory team in the Middle East of the leading law firm White & Case LLP and features prominently in the legal rankings and directories. His specific area of expertise is financial technology and Aryan worked with a number of regulators on building out frameworks and supervision capacity. Aryan will be our Group General Counsel and Head of Compliance from May 2022.

Yuval Ben-Haim

Non-Executive Director

Yuval Ben-Haim works in senior positions with companies at the forefront of technological change. He is President of Goji Food Solutions, a pioneering technology company that has popularised RF cooking, using radio waves to heat food quickly and efficiently, and was an executive at Impulse Dynamics, a medical technology company specialising in treating chronic heart failure. Yuval was a Business Development Manager at Hobart Group, a private equity firm that invests in medical technologies, overseeing international M&A and investment deals with a value of over $1 billion. He received a BSc in Physics and Medical Physics from University College London and an MBA with distinction from INSEAD in France. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organisation.

Siri Georjon

Office Manager

Siri Georjon has a broad knowledge of administration and project management. She holds a bachelor degree of Science in Nutrition from Queen Margaret University (UK) and a Master’s in Health Science from the University of Lucerne (CH). After graduation, she worked in various administrative roles and has experience in both back- and front office management. She then joined a start-up, where she spearheaded several projects and helped build an effective administrative process from scratch.

Nisrine Batata

Head of Marketing and Communications

Nisrine Batata specialises in financial marketing, communications and public relations projects across Europe, Africa and the MENA region. She was most recently the Head of Government and Enterprise Affairs for Africa at Time Magazine, and spent more than 10 years as a project manager at Jeune Afrique Media Group, the leading media group of Francophone Africa, covering strategic planning of the Africa CEO Forum, the annual conference for the African private sector.

Holly Taylor

Executive Assistant

Holly Taylor has extensive experience of front- and back-office roles and has held a number of administrative jobs over the last 10 years. After completing college with a distinction in Business and Management she worked as a junior legal secretary before moving to Santander Corporate Banking, where she supported the Head of Corporate Lending. Holly relocated to Dubai in 2016 and has since worked alongside a number of C-Level executives, including CEOs and Partners.

Malin Henschel

Head of Financial

Malin has 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. She most recently headed up the operational due diligence team at a prominent wealth management firm, leading the reviews of structures and operations of a vast range of investment firms. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a Master of Science in Corporate Finance from the Institute of Business Administration at Université Jean Moulin Lyon III.

Alexandra Lavrovscaia

Project Manager

Alexandra Lavroscaia is a business-development project manager with a background in private equity, real-estate fund management and real-estate technology. She has more than 10 years’ experience in managing complex projects, cross-border transactions, fund-raising and investor relations in a diverse range of industries. Alexandra has a Master’s degree in International Business from HULT International Business School in London and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, Montreal.

Peter Goss

Head of Product

Peter Goss is a UK-based Technology Leader with expertise in the IT lifecycle; Enterprise and Solution Architecture; Product and Technology Strategy; Product Management; and Governance and Solution Assurance. For more than 20 years Peter has delivered architecturally aligned solutions, strategy, target operating models, and architecture capability definition to support business transformation and deliver key business outcomes. Peter has worked in leadership and senior roles for London Underground Ltd; Capgemini; KPMG; and Experian, bringing diverse experience across finance; banking; credit services; legal; local government; education; transport; publishing; and health. Peter has a Master of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester, is TOGAF-9 certified and an IAF practitioner.

Ali Farid Khwaja

Advisor

Ali has more than 15 years’ experience in equity research and investments. He is a Director at KASB Securities, one of Pakistan’s leading stockbrokers. Ali was a Partner at Autonomous Research in London (now a part of Alliance Bernstein), where he led equity research of European Fintech companies. Prior to that, he was the CFO and Board Director of SafeCharge Group (LSE: SCH LN), a global payments company listed on the London Stock Exchange. He has been a top-ranked Technology Analyst in Europe at Berenberg and UBS. Ali is an alumnus of Georgetown Leadership Seminar and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is also a Patron of the British Pakistan Foundation and a member of the Business and Entrepreneur Forum of the UK Conservative Party.
He holds a First Class Honors in BSc Investment and Financial Risk Management from Cass Business School London and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) qualifications.

Sanjay Manchanda

Chief Operating Officer

Prior to joining WizzFinancial, Sanjay Manchanda was CEO of the Dubai-based property developer, Nakheel (2012–2020). He also served as a Partner for the Middle East at the professional services network, Price Waterhouse Coopers (1987–2012) and as Chief Restructuring Advisor for the Dubai-based jewellery retailer, Damas International.

He received his Bachelor of Commerce from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.

Amir Nagammy

Co-Founder and Chairman

Amir Nagammy is a London-based investor and entrepreneur focused on the technology and financial services sectors in emerging markets.  He has a 25-year track record of building and scaling companies in the UK, GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), India, Africa and other emerging markets, transforming them into profitable, large-scale enterprises that consistently produce impressive returns. Amir studied for a BA in Business Administration and Management from the University of Derby, Advanced Studies in Accountancy at RGC, and a Master’s Degree in International Management & Entrepreneurship from Swinburne University of Technology.

Errol Fonseca

Advisor

Errol Fonseca is the Co-Founder of online travel and tourism portal, Blahotelsearch. Prior to this he was at Travelex from 2014-2020, most recently as its CEO for North America, Canada and Panama, where he launched its first global cross-border payments programme with Samsung as well as pioneering new markets.

He has served in senior roles in New Zealand, India, the UAE and the Gulf for such household-name multinationals as Ahli United Bank, American Express, ANZ Bank, Bahrain Financing Co, Bank of New Zealand, GE Capital, Modi Xerox and Standard Chartered Bank.

He graduated from Massey University, New Zealand with a Diploma in Business Management.

Obiora Ogbunude

Advisory Board Member, WizzFinancial

Obiora Ogbunude is the Managing Partner of Blakeney Management, a London-based investment firm. Blakeney is one of the longest-standing international fund managers focusing on Africa and the Middle East. Over the last two decades Obi has led investments in many of the leading companies in Africa and the Middle East, in sectors including financial services, telecoms, e-commerce and FMCG. Obi graduated from the London Business School (MBA 2000), is a trained physician, and holds degrees in Medicine and Surgery (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, 1991) from the University of Benin in Nigeria.

Ben Sanders

Head of Strategy

Ben Sanders specialises in strategy and day-to-day technology operations for award-winning fintech and high-growth company start-ups and scale-ups across multiple industry sectors. Most recently he was MD of Europe for Pollen, a travel and entertainment marketplace voted the fourth-fastest growing company in the UK. Ben began his career as a management consultant at Bain & Company, based in Madrid and London, and then moved to the e-Commerce team of Worldpay Group.
After their successful IPO, he moved to Pockit, a digital banking platform for the financially excluded, and oversaw a five-fold increase in customer and revenue growth over three years.

Angad Chadha

Head of Technology

Angad Chadha has a diverse background, with experience in investment banking, start-ups and machine learning. His roles in investment banking include Event-Driven Trading and Financial Engineering for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley respectively. He has worked on a number of machine-learning projects, collaborating with data scientists to build predictive models and recommendation algorithms from inception. Angad graduated with a Distinction in Financial Engineering from Imperial College London.

Dominic Traynor

Director

Dominic Traynor is a London based company director and solicitor specialising in equity capital markets, and is a partner at Druces LLP, one of the City’s oldest law firms. At Druces and formerly at Ronaldsons LLP, a niche capital-markets firm, he advised on the structuring and listing of more than 30 companies on the Main Market and Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange and he has extensive experience in corporate governance. As well as being a director of Prism Group/Global Fintech Investments Holding, he is a director of the Australian-Saudi electric vehicle-battery chemicals company, EV Metals Group plc; was a founding director of AIM-listed construction materials company, SigmaRoc plc; and sits on the boards of a number of other companies. Dominic graduated from the College of Law, York, and received his LLB from Durham University.

Anthony Wagerman

Chairman of the Advisory Board, WizzFinancial

Anthony Wagerman has worked with Travelex, the world’s largest specialist foreign exchange company, for 17 years, and was its CEO from 2015-2018. He was also its Retail Director, Managing Director for Europe & Americas, and Deputy CEO. He helped to build Travelex into a global leader in foreign exchange for retail and corporate customers. He also served as a Non-Executive Director on a number of Travelex Boards in the UK, the US and Brazil and held board positions at several joint-venture companies in the Middle East. He is a non-Executive Director at BFC Bank (UK) Ltd and a Senior Advisor to the Esselco Group of companies. He is a Trustee of a leading anti-racism charity and sits on the board of an educational advisory charity.

Ebrahim Nonoo

Executive Chairman and CEO of Money

In 1992 Ebrahim Nonoo joined his family firm, BFC Group, founded in 1917 in Bahrain. He started as a foreign exchange dealer and the following year became a Director of the business, overseeing the expansion of this Gulf-based money transfer, foreign currency exchange, and wholesale currency exchange provider into Kuwait, establishing the Bahrain Exchange Company (BEC) and BFC Exchange Limited (formerly known as EzRemit) in 2003. Prism Group announced its acquisition of BFC in August 2021 and it is now part of Prism’s WizzFinancial group.

BFC specialises in fast, reliable money transfers through a variety of services, is pioneering new financial and security tehcnologies, and has an extensive correspondent network that includes several prestigious international financial institutions. Through them BFC has a presence in over 100 countries, and has 95 branches in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UK and India.

Guy Rothschild

Co-Founder and COO

Guy Rothschild has 20 years of experience in financial and management roles at public and private international companies. He is the Founder and Director of ROTCO GmbH, which provides financial and strategic advice to businesses, family offices and individuals. He has an in-depth knowledge of the European, Asian, and North American markets, and a thorough understanding of corporate structures. He has taken part in M&A transactions and was part of the team that led a private equity owned business from start-up to full production. Guy has a BA in Economics and Accounting from Bar-Ilan University and an MBA in International Business from CASS Business School.

Dr Sultan Ali Al Ahbabi

CEO

Dr Sultan Ali Al Ahbabi is the CEO of Prism Group. He is a Board Member of Siadah International Real Estate Development in Dubai. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Construction and Engineering Management from Texas A&M University, and a Doctorate in Business Administration from Abu Dhabi University. He also holds a Business Certificate from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); the Society of Engineers, UAE; and the American Academy of Project Management.