Finablr re-branded WizzFinancial, merged into leading payments group

DUBAI (Reuters) - The financial consortium that bought struggling payments company Finablr will rebrand it as WizzFinancial and merge it with a newly-purchased Bahraini company to create the largest money transfer group in the region, it said on Tuesday.

Switzerland-headquartered Prism Group AG and Abu Dhabi's Royal Strategic Partners in December bought Abu Dhabi-headquartered payments company Finablr for a nominal $1 after it ran into financial difficulties after a financial scandal involving Indian entrepreneur BR Shetty erupted last year.

The same consortium has bought the Bahrain Financing Company (BFC), which works in money transfer and currency services with a presence in Bahrain, India and Kuwait.

"The deal creates the largest remittance services and currency exchange group in the MENA region and becomes the only operator with a direct presence in all six GCC countries," a WizzFinancial statement said.

"The acquisition creates a regional powerhouse with licences to operate in over 30 countries."

BFC's CEO Ebrahim Ezra Nonoo will lead WizzFinancial's international money transfer business.

"(WizzFinancial is) in the process of consolidating additional remittance providers and alternative financial institutions onto our platform," said Amir Nagammy, a Britain-based Arab-Israeli who is chairman of Prism Group AG.

Prism, founded by Nagammy and Guy Rothschild, has offices in Britain and the United Arab Emirates and invests in financial services companies.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington; editing by Barbara Lewis)