Gulf Partners Group (GPG), a management-led Gulf private markets firm, together with Payward, the unified infrastructure platform and parent company of both NinjaTrader and digital asset platform Kraken, has announced the closing of a $100 million senior secured private credit facility for Chicago-headquartered NinjaTrader Group Holding.
Headquartered in Bahrain with planned near-term expansion into Abu Dhabi, GPG will focus on the emerging middle market segment and invest across private equity, private credit, real estate special situations, and selective growth opportunities.
A leading retail futures trading platform in the US, NinjaTrader is a wholly owned subsidiary of Payward. The facility will support NinjaTrader’s continued growth and operational expansion as it strengthens its leadership position in the US retail futures market.
This landmark facility for NinjaTrader marks GPG’s second transaction after its recent launch – and its first major transaction - it underscores Payward’s strategic expansion into the Gulf, said the company in a statement.
NinjaTrader serves hundreds of thousands of retail futures traders across the US and has established a leading position in a large and growing segment of the retail trading market.
The transaction highlights the growing role of Gulf-based investment firms in originating and executing international private credit opportunities. It demonstrates GPG's ability to source and structure complex cross-border investments and provide GCC investors with access to high-quality international businesses, it stated.
On the transaction, Mohammed Alqahtany, Co-CEO at GPG, dubbed it as a testament to what GPG was built to do, connect the Gulf to the world's most compelling investment opportunities, and do it at both a pace and to a standard that institutional investors expect.
Beyond the transaction itself, the facility marks the beginning of a broader strategic relationship between Payward and GPG. Drawing on a longstanding professional relationship between the respective management teams, the partnership aims to explore opportunities to connect Gulf investors with Kraken's expanding ecosystem of products and services.
The parties expect the relationship to create a platform for future collaboration and investment opportunities across the region.
Chief Investment Officer Waleed Abdulaziz said the investors across the GCC are increasingly seeking access to institutional-grade private market opportunities – in the region and beyond. "Our intention is to bridge that gap by providing access to carefully selected opportunities globally," he stated.
Yousif Al Abdulla, the Co-CEO at GPG, said: "This transaction reflects the quality of our relationships and execution capabilities we have built over many years. We see significant potential to continue connecting regional capital with high-quality investment opportunities internationally."
The deal marks GPG's first major investment since the firm launched in January and highlights growing interest among Gulf investors in international private credit opportunities, he added.
NinjaTrader Chief Executive Martin Franchi said: "We have spent two decades building the leading futures platform in the United States, and with the right capital partners behind us, the next chapter is an exciting one."
NinjaTrader is one of the largest retail futures trading platforms in the US, serving hundreds of thousands of customers.
The transaction also deepens ties between GPG and Payward, which said they plan to explore additional investment and business opportunities in the Gulf region.
Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the company sees the Gulf as an important market for future growth, citing the region's early adoption of digital asset regulation and infrastructure.
GPG invests across private equity and private credit strategies, targeting transactions valued between $50 million and $100 million. The firm aims to allocate the majority of its investments within the Gulf region while maintaining exposure to selected international opportunities.-TradeArabia News Service
