Gulf Capital, one of the largest and most active private equity firms investing from the GCC to Southeast Asia, said on 21 February that its portfolio company, the CWB Group has merged with the PETOŠEVIĆ Group to form a super-regional firm servicing and managing the intellectual property portfolios of global clients across the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. 

From its 24 offices, the combined full-service firm will have the capacity to provide its clients with the full suite of IP services across the 52 countries it focuses on, it said.

Founded in the 1960s, PETOŠEVIĆ is an intellectual property services provider headquartered in Luxembourg, providing services primarily across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 

PETOŠEVIĆ's management team had "a wealth of IP-focused experience and is one of the most established IP service providers in the region". 

Since its acquisition of a majority stake in CWB in 2020, Gulf Capital said it had worked closely with the management team to enhance its customer-centric ethos to better serve clients through technology, senior human capital, and best practices. 

Slobodan Petošević, founder of PETOŠEVIĆ Group, said: "This marks a major milestone for us at PETOŠEVIĆ after more than 60 years in IP, and last 30 developing a focused network of IP firms. 

"As a unique, multi-regional specialised IP firm, we are confident to offer our clients an enhanced and seamless service experience for all their intellectual property needs across the 52 countries we cover. 

"The partnership with CWB and Gulf Capital was born out of a common vision for the future, and we are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead for our innovative creation and our respective clients."

Halim Shehadeh, the chief executive officer and founder of the CWB Group, said: "We are thrilled with the successful completion of the PETOŠEVIĆ merger and are eager to start this journey as a combined firm. 

"This merger will deliver the resources we require to invest in new technologies, grow our operations and transform the way we deliver our services. It will enable us to build an unrivalled IP firm, with local presence and expertise in complex regions that operates as a single unit to deliver a consistent level of quality service despite all the challenges posed by the jurisdictions we operate in. 

"Our clients are going to benefit from having one relationship and one point of contact for all their IP needs across all the 52 countries that we cover".

Mohammad Madani, managing director, Gulf Capital, said: "We are very proud to partner with two pillars of the IP industry in Halim and Slobodan as we embark on this journey of transforming IP services across our growth markets. 

"This strategic merger of two industry leaders is a continuation of our long-established strategy of ‘buy-and-build' and industry consolidation to develop global champions out of the GCC region. We look forward to the smooth integration of the two firms and to generating substantial synergies and economies of scale in the future. 

"Finally, we are particularly proud to establish this new super-regional IP firm out of the vibrant Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM), which is quickly becoming the jurisdiction of choice for fast growing global companies operating across Emerging Markets."