Essdar Capital, an advisory and investment firm backed by Abu Dhabi royals, said its management bought out its existing shareholders, in a rare management led buy-out of a specialist financial institution in the Middle East.

Essdar's previous shareholders included members of Abu Dhabi's ruling family, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. No financial details of the transaction was provided.

"This is one of the first management buy-outs in the Middle-East of a specialist financial institution and may change the trend of how financial institutions are owned and operated in the region," Mohamad Sotoudeh, Essdar's chief executive said in the statement.

Essdar, based in Dubai, sold its bond investments in the troubled Blue City project to an Oman government-controlled fund in 2011, capping the completion of a rare distressed-debt deal in the Gulf.

The firm has worked with the UAE finance ministry and central bank on debt restructuring advisory transactions. Elsewhere, it has helped raise debt and equity capital for companies.

Its management team have completed more than $50 billion worth of debt restructurings in the Middle East over the last five years, the statement said.-Reuters