Seera Investment Bank, a Shari’a compliant investment bank headquartered in Bahrain, has sold BWA Water Additives (BWA), a UK-based firm, in a transaction worth $ 300 million.

The sale has generated a total return on investment of around 70 per cent over a holding period of slightly over two and a half years with an IRR of around 20 per cent, a statement said.

BWA is a world-leader in the development and supply of specialty chemicals used for water treatment in 90 countries around the world. The company’s new owner is Berwind Corporation, a US family-owned investment management company, with investments in a diversified portfolio of highly successful manufacturing and service companies.

Asaad Al Banwan, Seera’s chairman, said: “We are very excited about the sale of BWA for a number of reasons. First, the company was acquired in late 2008, just prior to the financial crisis and to be able to generate returns of 70 per cent during the time when most investments globally lost so much value, represents a great achievement for Seera.

'Second, this exit is a milestone for Seera as it completes the bank’s investment cycle which reaffirms Seera’s expertise in judiciously acquiring, actively managing and successfully exiting international private equity investments.”

Abdulla Janahi, Seera’s chief executive officer, commented: “Seera’s interest in BWA was driven by our investment strategy to invest in companies with strong fundamentals, a strong management team, being in an industry which is not highly cyclical, and to have intrinsic capability for organic growth rather than significant dependency on add-on acquisitions.'

Janahi added: “From day one, Seera adopted a very prudent investment strategy and avoided focus on speculative sectors. Instead, our focus was on asset classes and investments which exhibit strong and sustainable growth fundamentals.' -TradeArabia News Service