Riyada Enterprise Development Acquisition Of 50% Stake In the Entertainer

Riyada Enterprise Development (RED) has acquired a 50% stake in The Entertainer, a consumer services company that offers two-for-one discount vouchers for restaurants, hotels, spas, and entertainment in the Gulf region.

Founded in Dubai in 2001, The Entertainer was born out of Benton’s realization of a lack of connection between outlets and consumers in a growing market. “When I first came to Dubai, I was driving, and was struck by the number of good restaurants there were a bit out of the way,” shes says. “I thought, if people only had a little incentive to go to those restaurants, they would be a hit.”

Curtis acted as legal adviser to The Entertainer FZ LLC and its shareholders on the deal. The Curtis team was led by Jeremy Miocevic, a Partner in the Private equity/M&A department of the firm’s Dubai office, he commented: “One of the main challenges we faced in structuring and negotiating the deal is that the Entertainer probably sits at the extreme range of the RED deal scope in terms of being at the Medium Enterprise end of the SME range. This meant that many of the investment structures that RED would usually apply to its early stage investments were not necessarily applicable to The Entertainer and it took a lot of negotiation and resetting expectations on both sides of the deal to find a structure that accommodated the needs of all parties.

One of the reasons why Curtis were recommended to The Entertainer is the commercial understanding of Dubai based Curtis partner Jeremy Miocevic, gained during his former role with a private equity fund specialising in early stage companies. This commercial understanding was invaluable in devising and negotiating a structure that suited all parties. Curtis’ early involvement also allowed it to advise on the approach to investors and to introduce other advisers, which contributed to the transaction’s success.”

Contact Details: jmiocevic@curtis.com