Ascentium Acquisition of Virtuzone Signals a Strategic Drive towards Middle East Growth

Virtuzone, the UAE's leading and award-winning provider of company formation solutions, corporate services, and tax consultancy, has announced its acquisition by Ascentium, a Singapore-based global business services platform that serves over 20,000 active clients across 25 cities and nine markets in Asia Pacific (APAC).

This pivotal acquisition, which includes Virtuzone's sister companies Taxready.ae, Next Generation Equity, and MAKTABI, strengthens Virtuzone's position in the UAE's business landscape while also allowing Ascentium to establish a strong presence in the country and enter emerging markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

With the UAE's foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows reaching $30.6 billion in 2023 and the Middle East's GDP expected to reach 3.9% in 2025, the acquisition aligns with Virtuzone and Ascentium's shared vision of capitalising on this opportunity and strengthening their presence in fast-growing markets in the region and beyond.

Neil Petch, chairman and co-founder of Virtuzone, stated, "As global leaders in the corporate services industry, Ascentium embodies the core values that Virtuzone has upheld over the years, empowering businesses and delivering customer-centric solutions, transformative innovation, and unparalleled service excellence. By combining their business acumen with our local market leadership and knowledge, I believe this new era will provide much more value to our clients, partners, and the communities we serve."

Virtuzone clients and partners will be able to scale globally and reach new markets, such as the Far East and Latin America, while also streamlining compliance with international business laws and leveraging cutting-edge, AI-powered tools to digitize processes, increase productivity, and improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Lennard Yong, Ascentium's founder and Group CEO, added: "We are thrilled to grow in the GCC through the acquisition of Virtuzone and welcome them to the Ascentium group. Their skills and dedication to excellence will strengthen our organization and propel us toward our strategic objectives. Virtuzone's strong presence in the Middle East complements our existing skills, and we look forward to accomplishing new milestones and providing outstanding value to our global customers."

Ascentium, backed by Hillhouse Investment, an Asian private equity firm with USD 100 billion in assets, will invest in Virtuzone, allowing the Dubai-based company to broaden its suite of corporate services, expand its local footprint and resources, and serve as a springboard for Ascentium's expansion from APAC to the Middle East.

Hillhouse is a renowned diversified asset manager with strategies in stocks, credit, and real assets. It was founded by Zhang Lei in 2005 with initial investor cash from the Yale University Endowment. The firm manages capital for worldwide institutions such as non-profit foundations, endowments, and pension funds, and has a track record of successfully completing large, complicated deals in over 30 countries.

George Hojeige, Group CEO of Virtuzone, stated, "We are thrilled to join the Ascentium family, where our shared values and vision will propel us to even greater success. The potential for Virtuzone under Ascentium are extremely intriguing, particularly in terms of extending our presence in the Asia-Pacific area. Ascentium's global network and experience will broaden our service offerings in terms of activities and countries covered, allowing us to provide bespoke solutions to our clients and strengthening our position as a market leader in corporate solutions."

Virtuzone, a pioneer in the UAE's company formation industry, is well-known for introducing AI-driven tools for businesses, such as TaxGPT, the world's first AI-powered UAE corporate tax assistant; ChatVZ, the world's first business setup AI chatbot; and SwyftPlan, a business plan builder powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Virtuzone also provides complimentary tax and accounting solutions to thousands of SMEs in the UAE following the implementation of corporate tax regulations in the country.