MENA – Gulf Capital, an alternative asset manager in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has acquired a significant majority stake in the CWB Group, an intellectual property services provider across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
CWB provides Patent and Trademark services including counseling, clearing, filing, prosecution, maintenance and enforcement services to Fortune 500 companies across the MENA region.
Founded in 2006, CWB works with its clients to conceive and execute strategic solutions to manage, protect and enforce their Intellectual Property (IP) through its seven offices and member firms in the Middle East and North Africa region.
“We are delighted to partner with the experienced management team at CWB to pursue an ambitious growth plan for the firm,” Dr Karim El Solh, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital, said.
“Our partnership with Gulf Capital is a major step towards reaching our goal of becoming the leading provider of IP services in emerging markets as we expand across new geographies, take on talented people, invest in new technologies and broaden our service offerings.”
Halim Shehadeh – Chief Executive Officer and founder, CWB Group
“CWB’s quality of service is unrivalled in the MENA region, a reputation which has helped the firm gain market share as well as attract and retain some of the world’s largest brand owners. CWB is very well positioned to continue its strong growth momentum and to expand across emerging markets.”
According to Karim, the Mena, Africa and CIS intellectual property services market is estimated at over US$350 million annually and is expected to grow at 6% per annum over the next 5 years.
“We are excited to embark on this new chapter in CWB’s journey alongside Gulf Capital, an investment firm with like-minded individuals and with deep experience taking regional firms global,” Halim Shehadeh, Chief Executive Officer and founder of the CWB Group, said.
“Our partnership with Gulf Capital is a major step towards reaching our goal of becoming the leading provider of IP services in emerging markets as we expand across new geographies, take on talented people, invest in new technologies and broaden our service offerings.”
Halim added that the intellectual property protection and services area is ever more important and complex, and at CWB they have built a solid reputation protecting their clients’ interests across the Middle East.
CWB, according to Halim, intends to expand rapidly into new geographies while leveraging our new partner’s experience in building global platforms out of the GCC.
“Gulf Capital has been studying the intellectual property space for two years and has identified CWB as the premier IP service provider in the MENA region,” Mohammad Madani, Managing Director at Gulf Capital, said.
“The firm has distinguished itself by helping clients to protect and manage their intellectual property across the Middle East and by delivering better business value. We look forward to working with Halim Shehadeh and his team on launching new services, leveraging new technologies and expanding CWB across emerging markets.”
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