Abu Dhabi’s IHC acquires 55% stake in Reach Employment Services

Company plans to use the $86 million deal to increase its market share in employment sector

Reach Employment Services was established in 1999 and serves government and private entities in recruitment. Photo: IHC

International Holding Company, the UAE's most valuable listed company, has acquired a 55 per cent stake in recruitment company Reach Employment Services, to increase its market share in the employment sector.

The acquisition is valued at Dh315 million ($85.8 million), IHC said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

The company’s first business acquisition of the year comes as it continues to scale and diversify its investments locally and internationally. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, it said.

“Over the past two years and a half, we have taken successful steps with the employment sector investments through our subsidiary Work Force Holding and with the 'Reach' acquisition, we will be increasing our market share in a very targeted manner,” said Syed Shueb, chief executive of IHC.

Reach Employment Services was established in 1999 and serves government and private entities in recruitment. The company searches, identifies, recruits and hires employees directly and outsources them to its clients, according to the statement.

While the company is also a registered and approved outsourcing agency by the UAE Ministry of Labour, it has more than 125 existing clients, with an average tenure of 11 years with its top 10 clients.

In 2022, Reach Employment Services' revenue reached Dh861 million and the company posted a profit of Dh67.5 million, the statement said.

“Employment services are an important part of any community’s economic development strategy, specifically for emerging market and industries,” Mr Shueb said.

IHC has been aggressively expanding its portfolio through local and global acquisitions. The company is diversifying its holdings across sectors, including real estate, agriculture, health care, utilities, industries, IT and communications, retail and leisure.

Earlier this week, the company invested Dh1.4 billion in the follow-on share sale floated by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship business, Adani Enterprises. In May, it completed a Dh7.3 billion investment deal with the Adani Group.

In October last year, IHC made a bid to acquire a Dh7.7 billion tender offer to buy a stake in Grupo Nutresa, one of the biggest food processing companies in Colombia.

In August, it acquired a 50 per cent stake in Turkish renewable energy company Kalyon Enerji for Dh1.8 billion.

In June, IHC and Abu Dhabi-listed Alpha Dhabi announced a combined $50 million investment in aerospace company SpaceX, founded by billionaire businessman Elon Musk.