Dubai SME And SHUAA Co-Host Business Valuation Seminar For SME100 Companies

Fourteen SME 100 firms have benefitted from the valuation exercise and more are signing up

Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, and SHUAA Capital psc (“SHUAA”) presented business valuation advice to SME100 companies at a seminar on 28 February 2013. The valuation service included guidance to SMEs on building long term value drivers for sustainable growth.

Based on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in August 2012, SHUAA has provided corporate finance expertise in the form of valuations and advice in one-on-one forums to 14 SMEs and now to another 25 SMEs who attended the seminar hosted by Dubai SME. The one-on-one valuation meetings and seminar are part of the capability and knowledge development initiative introduced by Dubai SME and SHUAA for firms listed in its Dubai SME100 ranking.

Launched under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, Dubai SME100 identifies the top-performing SMEs in Dubai to help groom them into bigger and more sustainable enterprises, and support them through their growth into larger, internationally-oriented companies.

Each capability development initiative typically has four components: an expert sharing/knowledge building seminar; business self-diagnostic tools; one-on-one audit/due diligence with SMEs; case studies and experience sharing by SME100 CEOs.

The SHUAA-led seminar helps business executives understand how a valuation assessment is prepared by an independent financial expert and how budget preparation, accounting decisions and business plans may impact the company’s valuation. Case studies help SME entrepreneurs and CEOs explore key considerations in managing cash flow and funding requirements that enable investment in building long term value and returns.

“We appreciate the opportunity to work with Dubai SME in supporting the continued expansion of this important sector of the UAE economy, which contributes significantly to our employment and GDP, as well as provides innovation and enrichment for our society,” said His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum, Executive Chairman of SHUAA.

“SHUAA has been in the business of helping SME entrepreneurs and CEOs in the region fulfill their growth objectives through financial advisory and capital raising services since 1979. In addition to equity offerings and private placements, SHUAA can offer advisory services including M&A, and through our subsidiary, Gulf Finance Corporation (GFC), asset-based financing,” he added.

“Dubai SME is delighted to partner with SHUAA to offer added-value services to the SME100 companies in the area of valuation. Dubai SME sees this as one major dimension for SMEs to understand better the value of their firms in preparation for investor interest, and to ready themselves for listing in the public markets (IPO), should they wish to take such a route to raise capital,” commented Abdul Baset Al Janahi, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai SME.

“SMEs stand to benefit tremendously as they ponder about their future growth and investment potential as well as discover the underlying value of their business and how to create more value. This is a major milestone in the Dubai SME 100 ranking initiative to help willing and able growth SMEs to grow and develop. Hopefully some of these SMEs will be ready to list in the IPO Market in time to come. We believe that the SME100 companies will find the knowledge and experience imparted by SHUAA extremely useful as they strive to move to the next level of growth and development,” Al Janahi added.

“The information SHUAA provided has enabled me to make important business decisions regarding the direction and future of Ethos. As a direct result Ethos has continued its ‘Transformation Plan’ and will be launching a new global online solution soon, which we believe will further position Ethos as a leading edge provider of customer service solutions,” Robert M. Keay, Managing Director, Ethos Consultancy, remarked after attending the seminar.

“A professional business valuation to me is a must for a responsible target at sustainable growth. It is not only something that should be done when investments are imminent, but something that should be done regularly to assess where the business stands and understand the value created. It is a critical tool for strategic business planning. At GIT, this has been practiced in the past with our auditors at a substantial cost. We are grateful to Dubai SME for having provided us with the opportunity, free of cost, to work with one of the region’s premier investment banks in conducting a professional valuation and we thank SHUAA for the extraordinary and professional support,” commented Dr Sassan Dieter Khatib-Shahidi, CEO and Executive Director, German Imaging Technologies, Dubai.

Emirate:  Dubai

Date: Mar 9, 2013

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