India's Infibeam Avenue restructures its UAE subsidiary ahead of ADX listing

Indian fintech firm Infibeam Avenues Ltd has reorganized the shareholding of its United Arab Emirates subsidiary as it prepares for an upcoming listing, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

The change involves transferring the “mirror shareholding” of Avenues World FZ-LLC to a newly formed Abu Dhabi entity, Infibeam Avenues ME SPV Ltd.

Infibeam’s wholly owned UAE subsidiary, Vavian International Ltd, will hold an 80% stake in the new Abu Dhabi firm, which in turn will own Avenues World FZ-LLC, the operator of the popular payment gateway CCAvenue.ae in the UAE.

ADX listing plans

According to reports, this step supports Infibeam Avenues’ plan to list on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange and meet the requirement of having its headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The company had earlier revealed that its UAE-based step-down subsidiary, Avenues World FZ-LLC, raised up to $20 million in a pre-IPO equity placement. This funding round gave the subsidiary a post-money valuation of $100 million.

Strong growth in the UAE

Infibeam has seen rapid growth in its UAE operations over the past three years. In August 2023, the company processed more than 1 billion dirhams in transactions in a single month. By October 2023, CCAvenue.ae had processed over 24.5 billion dirhams, serving more than 5,000 merchants across various sectors.

Major clients include Burj Khalifa, Emaar, Damac, Nakheel and Trump Golf Dubai. Industry experts say the UAE’s digital payment market is expanding at a steady pace, with high-commission transactions mostly handled through credit cards, debit cards or net banking.

Expanding product portfolio

Infibeam introduced mobile-based QR code solutions in 2023 for the UAE, marking its entry into offline payments in the country. This addition broadened the company’s service range, which previously focused on e-commerce and online transactions.

Infibeam also secured a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia, where its subsidiary received Payment Tokenization Service Provider certification from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. This made Infibeam one of the first Indian fintech firms to earn such approval in the Kingdom.

Focus on MENA region

With growing e-commerce and contactless transactions in the Middle East, Infibeam Avenues is increasing its investments and partnerships to tap into this booming market.

A recent collaboration between CCAvenue and PayPal aims to expand global payment acceptance across the Middle East and North Africa region.

The company’s earnings announcements for the current financial year have emphasized international growth, especially in the Middle East, aided by initiatives like express settlement for merchants and CCAvenue TapPay.