GFH Partners acquires a majority stake in UAE’s Devmark Real Estate Brokers

Dubai-headquartered Gulf Finance House (GFH) Partners, the global real estate investment arm of Bahrain’s GFH Financial Group, has acquired a majority stake in Devmark Real Estate Brokers, a UAE-based development marketing and sales consultancy.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Devmark marks GFH Partners’ second UAE real estate platform majority share acquisition, following its acquisition of the GFH Partners Manrre REIT (CEIC), and signals its entry into the GCC residential sales and marketing ecosystem.

The move complements its thematic exposure in the real estate sector, where its platform currently has 33 assets and AED1.5 billion in asset value under management.

Nael Mustafa, Chief Executive Officer of GFH Partners, commented: “The acquisition of Devmark represents an extension of our platform partnership strategy, investing alongside exceptional management teams to build enduring, sector-specific platforms.

“Devmark’s market leadership and deep developer relationships make it a critical partner as we expand our GCC footprint and create greater connectivity between investors, capital markets, and developers across our ecosystem.”

Sean McCauley and Richard Aybar, Devmark’s founders, will continue to lead and manage the business, and together with GFH Partners, they will pursue growth opportunities across the UAE and GCC. They also plan to introduce institutional capital solutions for developers.

Founded in 2018, Devmark has led the sales effort for more than 30 projects with a combined gross development value exceeding AED10 billion (US$2.72 billion) and a sales distribution network spanning over 2,000 brokerage firms and over 15,000 brokers. It plays a key role in helping residential developers drive sales performance through a comprehensive 360-degree approach from project positioning, marketing, to sales execution.

McCauley, Chief Executive Officer of Devmark, added: “Joining forces with GFH Partners provides Devmark with institutional scale, financial strength, and access to global capital flows.

“Together, we will continue to elevate standards of project marketing and sales in the region, while pursuing growth opportunities across GCC’s most dynamic residential markets.

“Most importantly, this partnership enhances the value we can deliver to developers, enabling us to connect them with new sources of capital, more sophisticated strategies, and a broader ecosystem of investors and buyers to accelerate project success.”

GFH Partners is a DFSA-regulated global real estate investment manager headquartered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). It has approximately US$7 billion in assets under management across the US, UK, and GCC. The firm specialises in thematic investing across logistics, living, healthcare, and digital infrastructure sectors.