IT and Telecommunications

CMA was retained by EEMC, a division of Securities House, Kuwait to carry out a feasibility study for a two way Internet project for the Middle East. The study was focused on 19 countries in the Middle East and is the most comprehensive study that has eve been commissioned for this sector in the region. The company, Streamlink Communications was established in 2003.

CMA was the exclusive financial advisor to Valuevad, a leading document management company based in Dubai. CMA was involved with strategic advise on the company’s growth strategy in the Middle East and India, for preparing the Information Memorandum, corporate restructuring and to secure financing for the company. CMA arranged US$ 500,000 in working capital and is in the process of establishing joint ventures for the company in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and India. The company’s business model is based on Dicom Group and was acquired by the Dicom Group in 2004.

CMA represented MSI the largest mobile operator (1 million subscribers) in sub Saharan Africa. The company had an EBITDA of US$ 100 million in 2002 and was raising its 5 th round of financing (US$ 200 million) for which CMA was its exclusive representative for the Middle East. CMA was co-manager with Rothschild, UK. MSI (Celtel) was finally acquired by MTC from Kuwait in 2005.

The managers of CMA carried out a detailed Feasibility Study, while working for CDC, prior to bidding for an ISP license in Saudi Arabia in 1997. While the business model was sound from a market opportunity perspective, CDC’s management chose to defer entering the market as 60 licenses were being awarded and rather than compete at a start up stage and grow organically, the management of CDC decided to defer the development of the business through future acquisitions.

As advisors to the Injazat Technology Fund (a US$ 50 million Islamic fund set up by the Islamic Development Bank and Gulf Finance House) the managers of CMA carried out detailed due diligence, while working for CDC, on regional ISP’s in Lebanon, Kuwait and in Saudi Arabia. The managers therefore have extensive knowledge on the regional Middle Eastern ISP market.

During their tenure with CDC the managers of CMA identified and developed a pre-paid calling card business in Saudi Arabia. In August 1998, a CDC-backed consortium won one of the seven preliminary prepaid calling card licenses awarded by the Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC). In July of 1999, ATC was awarded one of four final prepaid calling card licenses by the STC. CDC utilized this license to create Advanced Telecommunications Company (ATC), which manufactures, markets and sells prepaid calling cards and operates the related telecommunications platform to facilitate their use. ATC is one of the first privately owned telecommunications companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The managers of CMA has worked in conjunction with CEA’s India-based affiliate to seek strategic investors for an Indian venture company that holds exclusive licenses to operate new media and telecommunications businesses in the sub-continent. The first phase of the project is the development of an entity to exploit an existing MMDS operation in Sri Lanka to include the development of programs and content.

The managers of CMA were involved with providing corporate finance and corporate advisory services to DocMan which is a document management company based in Dubai. The managers of CMA secured US$ 1.4 million in financing for the Company at the end of 2001 at which time venture capital had virtually dried up in the market for the IT and technology sectors. The managers of CMA served on the Board of the Company.