Canada's Brookfield Asset Management today entered into an agreement to acquire payment services provider Network International in a deal worth US$2.76 billion.

Founded in 1994, Network International is a major player in the payments industry. The company has 1,750 employees and serves more than 150,000 merchants and 200 financial institutions in the Middle East and Africa. Impressively, Network International processed nearly 1 billion transactions and facilitated over $42 billion worth of payments to its clients in 2021. The company, which has more than 50% market share in the UAE and Jordan, operates through two divisions: the merchant services segment, which offers payment gateways for online merchants, and the outsourced payment services division, where the majority of revenue comes from data processing. Major investors such as Capital Research and Mastercard UK have expressed confidence in Network International, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in April 2019 with an initial offer price of 435p per share.

With more than $825 billion in assets under management, Brookfield has established itself as a major player in the financial marketplace. Since 1997, the company has been actively investing in the Middle East, where it has acquired significant assets such as a stake in the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's pipeline. Last year, a division of Brookfield acquired control of Magnati, the payments unit of First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, in a deal valued at $1.15 billion, offering potential synergies with the newest acquisition

The offer of 400 pence per share represents a significant premium of approximately 64% to Network International's closing share price on 12 April before the offer was made.