Stockbroker and corporate finance house, Daniel Stewart Securities (LON:DAN), today announced that it has completed its acquisiton of financial consulting business, MENA, and seen improved trading for the first two months of this financial year. Daniel Stewart is an AIM-listed financial services company providing a range of investment banking services to small cap publicly traded and non-publicly traded companies. It currently acts for approximately 50 AIM companies.
According to the Company, the addition of MENA further enhances Daniel Stewart's burgeoning cross-border reach and research offering. MENA has circa 20 clients and provides a wide range of services focusing on deal execution, project management and fund raising. MENA specialises in Financial Services, Healthcare, Real Estate & Infrastructure and Natural Resources. With offices in Dubai and Cape Town, its regional presence covers Europe, Africa and the six Gulf Cooperation Council ("GCC") Member States. With the integration of MENA, the Company has apparently seen a significant increase in turnover and a return to profitability since the March 31st year-end. Both April and May are expected to be profitable and, with the current business pipeline, this trend is expected to continue going forward. Preliminary results will be announced at the end of July but the Board anticipates revenues of approximately £4.0 million and a loss of c. £3.0 million.
Having previously announced that Adam Wilson, the previous owner of MENA, would become CEO of Daniel Stewart, the company says that his move from Middle East to the UK has been delayed for 12 months as a result of the significant increase in business. Daniel Stewart intends to bring to market in the near future a company operating in the GCC region. As a result, it has also been agreed that Peter Shea will continue in his role as both Chairman and Chief Executive of the Company for a further 12 months. Daniel Stewart also recently announced a £500,000 equity investment by AIM listed investment company and incubator,Brainspark (LON:BSP). Commenting on today's announcement, Peter Shea, the Chairman and CEO of Daniel Stewart, said:
"We are delighted with the level of trading we have managed to secure for the period. The Board, along with Mr Wilson, has decided that it is best for him to prolong his stay in the Middle East so that we can keep the momentum going and continue to take advantage of interest from international…
