UAE’s Gulf Capital Exits Kuiper Australia

The UAE-based Gulf Capital, one of the largest private equity firms investing from the GCC to the rest of Asia, has exited from Kuiper Australia, in a carve-out transaction from its portfolio company, Kuiper Group, the leading manpower outsourcing company in the offshore energy sector.

The sale was structured as a management buyout, supported by National Bank of Australia and Kuiper Australia CEO Mark Somic will continue to serve Kuiper Group as its CEO, and clients will continue to benefit from the synergies and ongoing business affiliation between both independent entities.

The sale of Kuiper Australia is the second exit in less than a week for Gulf Capital, following the successful exit of Middle East Glass in Egypt.

Following the acquisition of a majority stake in the leading Dubai-based Oil & Gas offshore crew provider, OCB Oilfield Services, Gulf Capital worked closely with the management team to expand across Asia by acquiring Singapore-based Kuiper International, a dominant player in the offshore construction and maintenance services sector, with a particular stronghold in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region and Australia.

With offices across the Gulf region and Singapore, Gulf Capital has a long track of expanding its Gulf companies across Asia, through organic growth or bolt-on acquisitions, as was the case with Kuiper International.

Together with the Kuiper Group management team, Gulf Capital built a leading international energy business services platform which now has presence in more than 20 Asian, Middle Eastern, and African countries and enjoys long-standing relationships with its blue-chip energy clients.

During Gulf Capital’s holding period, Kuiper Group has implemented a growth programme which focused on significant diversification in customer base, service capabilities, and geographical coverage.

Growth to Continue

Gulf Capitals’ Co-Founder and CEO Dr Karim El Solh said that they enjoyed working and partnering with the talented team at Kuiper Australia and building together the market leading business services platform for the offshore energy sector in Australia.

He said that the team was well placed to continue the growth of the business, and we wish the company further success in its new endeavours. Kuiper today has a remarkable franchise and a strong management team and is well positioned to continue its growth trajectory in the future.

“This investment cements Gulf Capital’s track record of backing local companies and transforming them into market leaders across Asia. Gulf Capital had a very productive year so far and the sale of Kuiper Australia represents our second private equity exit this month, following the successful sale of Middle East Glass in Egypt last week,” he added.

Mark Somic said that Gulf Capital has been an outstanding, high value-add partner as they embarked on a journey together and transformed Kuiper into the market leader it is today. It has been instrumental in shaping the company’s growth strategy and in helping them to install the culture and processes required to enable us to grow and scale rapidly.

The business in Australia has grown significantly this year, and Kuiper Group believes that the country’s distinctive business environment commands a standalone operation. This provided the opportunity for the carve-out by the management team, he said.

“With the strong foundation and leading franchise, Kuiper is well positioned to continue the growth in Australia, and I am honoured to be able to lead it into the next phase of growth as an independent operation, supported by the Group, as and when needed,” he added.

Gulf Capital’s senior Managing Director Richard Dallas they were pleased to have partnered with Mark and his management team on this transaction, and have been lucky to work with talented and committed founders at both OCB, their initial investment, and Kuiper.