EIIB-Rasmala, a leading specialist asset management and financing group, has announced its full acquisition of Rasmala Egypt Asset Management (REAM).

The Group has increased its shareholding in REAM from 51 per cent to 100 per cent, following the acquisition of the remaining 49 per cent previously held by other shareholders.

The transaction further consolidates EIIB-Rasmala’s asset management business and follows the recent announcement of a series of new strategic initiatives for 2015, including the expansion of the Group’s leasing and real estate businesses.

REAM’s fixed-income portfolios yielded 10.05 per cent annually in the past five years vs. 9.90 per cent average return for the one-year Treasury Bills during the same period. The firm’s equity composite average return consistently outperformed the market recording 31.30 per cent in 2013 vs. 24.19 per cent for the EGX 30 and 21.04 per cent for average equity funds in Egypt.

According to performance rankings issued by the Egyptian Investment Management Association, REAM’s ABC Equity Fund was the best performing equity fund in Egypt in the last 12 months ended September 30.

Zak Hydari, chief executive of EIIB-Rasmala, said: “The full acquisition of REAM is a further milestone in the consolidation of our fast growing regional asset management business. In line with our overall asset management strategy, we are now opening discussions with potential JV partners to expand our investment activities in both Egypt and other parts of Africa.” – TradeArabia News Service