Bahrain-based GFH Financial acquires Roebuck in UK

Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank GFH Financial Group (GFH) has acquired a majority stake in Roebuck Asset Management (Roebuck), a real estate investment service provider from the United Kingdom (UK). 

Founded in 2009 by Hugh Macdonald-Brown and Nick Rhodes, Roebuck has managed $1.72 billion worth of assets covering over 15 million sq ft of floor area.

The firm which primarily focuses on the acquisition and management of logistics assets has invested in more than 85 properties across the UK and Europe including Spain, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

The deal will allow Roebuck to gain from the significant European commercial real estate GFH in a market that has greater prospects of growth with robust fundamentals.

“We’re excited to announce this acquisition which provides the Group with a broad base of asset managers focused on the fast-growing logistics real estate space. This investment comes in line with our stated plan to pursue investments that can help accelerate our growth, further enhance profitability and increase our assets under management. This is a strategic investment into a profitable platform with a proven track record and capabilities and broad institutional investor base providing GFH with a low risk approach to further expanding the European market. Having recently concluded a c.$77m landmark acquisition of a high quality & income producing last-mile Amazon-designated logistics warehouse in Spain, we look forward to working closely with our new partners at Roebuck to bring other high potential opportunities to GFH, and our investors, leveraging their strong access to deal flow and deep expertise in the space.”

Mr. Hugh Macdonald-Brown and Mr. Nick Rhodes, Managing Partners of Roebuck, added, “Together with GFH, we are poised to unlock further exciting opportunities we are seeing in the UK and European logistics and business space sectors. Over the past decade, we have grown year on year our client base and assets under management, and we are confident we will significantly build on this by leveraging off GFH’s network and infrastructure. We will look to maximize synergies where possible with GFH opening up reciprocal access for the Group to Roebuck’s strong and existing institutional investor base in Asia and other markets where we have established a strong track record and excellent relationships with leading institutional and high net worth investors.”