Banking & Finance Brookfield plans counterbid for Network International By Pramod Kumar April 21, 2023, 6:24 AM Unsplash.com The Canadian investment firm has held preliminary discussions with Network International Brookfield Asset Management is looking at a potential counterbid for UAE-headquartered digital payments provider Network International. The Canadian investment firm has held preliminary discussions with London-listed Network, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. Brookfield has been an active investor in the Middle East. Last year a Brookfield subsidiary acquired control of First Abu Dhabi Bank’s Magnati payments unit in a deal valued at $1.15 billion. Network received last week a non-binding bid of 387 pence per share from a consortium of CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners. The company, which reported a 42 percent rise in net profit for 2022 to more than $80 million and revenue growth of 25 percent to $438 million, said that the takeover proposal follows a series of rejected bids. The digital payments firm operates in more than 50 markets across the Middle East and Africa, focusing on the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa and Jordan. Network CEO Nandan Mer said previously that it had ended last year “in a position of strength” supported by “structural market expansion and continued strategic delivery”.