BDA advises Seera (formerly UIB, Bahrain) on acquisition of BWA Water Additives

Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) is pleased to announce that Seera Investment Bank (formerly United International Bank of Bahrain), a Shari’a compliant investment bank headquartered in Bahrain, has acquired UK based BWA Water Additives (“BWA”), a leading global water treatment solution provider.

Headquartered in the UK, BWA Water Additives has been operating for over 35 years with laboratories in the UK and USA. The Company is a world leader in the development and marketing of high performance specialty chemicals for water treatment and has developed a highly regarded product line to meet a range of customer requirements in over 85 countries. The application portfolio is well placed in three attractive and high growth segments, which include water desalination, industrial water treatment processes, and secondary oil recovery. The company’s products are predominantly used to control and prevent corrosion of iron or steel, reduce inorganic deposits on the surface of pumps and pipes and treat microbiological growth in process water, each of which represents a significant operating issue for end users.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Asaad Albanwan, Chairman of the Seera Board, said, “BWA is a global leader, providing innovative and effective water treatment solutions. This acquisition will help Seera establish a presence in this important space and we look forward to exploiting the synergies of both companies to gain a competitive advantage. The global water treatment demand is forecast to grow significantly in the foreseeable future and we feel strongly about investing in this sector.”

Abdulla Janahi, Seera’s General Manager and Acting Chief Executive Officer, added, “from a regional perspective, BWA has a significant presence in the Middle East and has positioned itself as the leader in the high performance chemicals sector for water treatment. This offers Seera the opportunity to support BWA in its drive through the next phase of growth. Going forward, as articulated in the Bank’s business strategy, Seera will continue to identify and invest in niche investment opportunities with the objective of achieving attractive returns for our investors.”

Dr. David Cartmell, Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of BWA commented, “we are extremely pleased to have partnered with Seera. This is an important milestone in the development of BWA. Having taken into consideration the Middle East region and in particular the GCC economic growth and the dynamics in the water treatment market, it was imperative that we explored fresh funding to support our expansion plans and grow further. We believe that with their experience and knowledge of the region, Seera will be a valuable partner in growing BWA internationally.”

Financing for the transaction was provided by Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland Equity Fund.

BDA acted as exclusive buy-side advisor to Seera on this transaction, structured in accordance with the Islamic Shari’a principles. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Seera

Incorporated in 2006 in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Seera is an investment bank licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain with an authorized share capital of US$ 2.5 billion and a paid-up capital of US$ 291 million. The Bank provides investment banking products and services in strict adherence to Islamic rules and principles. It is constantly exploring opportunities to develop new Shari’a compliant products with strong underlying assets and attractive returns for the Islamic investment market of the future. For further information on Seera, please visit www.seera.com.

About Business Development Asia

Business Development Asia LLC was founded in 1996. BDA assists multinational corporate and financial sponsor clients to identify and execute cross-border acquisitions, divestments, JVs, restructuring and capital raising, in Asia the Middle East and internationally. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bahrain, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai,Seoul, and Tokyo. BDA employs 55 full-time professional staff across its eight offices, supplemented by a team of senior advisors around the world. BDA’s client list includes Air Products, Areva, Cadbury Schweppes, Celestica, DIC, DuPont, Ecolab, Godrej, Hanjin Shipping, Hercules, Huntsman, Inabata, Kimberly-Clark, Lear, Lubrizol, Mars, Molex, Nalco, Reuters, Rohm & Haas, Ryder, SigmaKalon, Sumitomo Chemical, Sun Chemical, TATA Auto Components, Tenneco, Tredegar, WR Grace, and the British Government. Further information on BDA is available at www.bdapartners.com.

BDA Transaction Team

Andrew Huntley, Senior Managing Director, London, ahuntley@bdallc.com
Tamer N. Makary, Head of Middle East Office, Bahrain, tmakary@bdallc.com
Shariq Siddiqui, Senior Associate, London, ssiddiqui@bdallc.com
Omar Al-Alami, Analyst, Bahrain, oalami@bdallc.com
Hadyah Fathalla, Analyst, Bahrain, hfathalla@bdallc.com

For more information regarding this transaction, please contact Andrew Huntley in London at (44) 20 7655 3500 or Tamer Makary in Bahrain at
(973) 1756 7914.