First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) said Nov. 9 it acquired 100% of Bahrain-based Yasira Financial Services, adding fund-administration and trust operations to the bank’s regional securities-services business.
FAB plans to rename Yasira and integrate it into its Securities Services operation. Gulf News reported that the companies had not disclosed the transaction value.
Yasira was formerly Crestbridge Bahrain and took its current name in late 2023, Gulf News reported. Gulf News reported that, at the time of its 2023 rebrand, Yasira administered funds and structures totaling more than $7 billion in assets.
Gulf News reported that Yasira serves fund managers working with real estate and private equity, as well as venture capital and public-asset mandates. Its back-office work includes tracking allocations and investor obligations, coordinating requests for capital, preparing accounts and distributing proceeds.
Pantelis (Linos) Lekkas, FAB’s Group Head of Investment Banking & Markets, tied the purchase to fund managers’ growing need for integrated services as the regional industry expands and becomes more complex. He said FAB’s immediate aim is “continuity for Yasira’s clients” while the bank develops the platform and its workforce. Lekkas said the combined business would offer fund managers broader regional reach and local expertise across markets and jurisdictions.
As a regional expansion precedent, Gulf News pointed to Emirates NBD’s June 2026 transaction in India, which gave it a 60% interest in RBL Bank for $2.75 billion.
