Ascentium, a global business services platform based in Singapore, has acquired Dubai-based Virtuzone, a leader in company formation solutions as well as corporate services and tax consultancy. The acquisition also includes Virtuzone sister companies—Taxready.ae, Next Generation Equity and MAKTABI—allowing Ascentium to build a presence in Dubai and also extend its reach across the GCC.  

The financial terms of the acquisition remain unclear.  

PC: Arabian Business 

The acquisition furthers Ascentium’s strategy to target key growth markets. Dubai has witnessed significant foreign direct investments (FDI), or inflows, of $30.6 billion in 2023, being the business capital of the UAE. The expected growth of GDP at 3.9% across the Middle East in 2025 creates an immediate opportunity for the acquisition to ride on the wave of growing economic vitality in the region. 

On behalf of Ascentium, Lennard Yong, Founding Management& Group CEO, enthused at the agreement saying, “We are pleased to be expanding in the GCC with the acquisition of Virtuzone and welcome them to the Ascentium group. Their expertise and commitment to excellence will enhance our organization and propel us forward toward our strategic goals. Virtuzone’s considerable regional presence strongly complements our existing capabilities, and together, we look forward to reaching new milestones and providing exceptional value to our global customers.”  

Dubai-based Virtuzone is the first and largest specialist company formation service in the UAE. Since being founded in 2009, it has been helping over 80,000 entrepreneurs from 180 nations. 

Neil Petch, Chairman and Co-founder of Virtuzone, stated that Ascentium respects, embodies, and lives by core values that the Virtuzone has upheld through the years, empowering businesses, provider of customer-centric solutions, transformative innovation, and unrivalled service excellence. “Together with their business savvy and our local market leadership and expertise, I am sure this new era will add significantly more value to our customers, partners, and communities we serve.”

With Ascentium, Virtuzone leverages added resources for developing corporate services further, providing tremendous impetus in Ascentium’s overall expansion into the Middle East.  

George Hojeige, Group CEO of Virtuzone, noted, “Virtuzone definitely has a lot of potential with Ascentium going forward, particularly in deepening our reach within the Asia Pacific. Ascentium’s global scope and experience will allow us to expand our service offerings and provide clients with customized solutions.”  

With 1,500 professionals across nine Asia-Pacific markets and over 20,000 active clients, Ascentium is an expert in secretarial, finance, payroll, HR administration, family office, fund administration, governance, risk, compliance (GRC), and cross-border investment services.  

This acquisition symbolizes bulk Dubai’s offerings as openings to GCC and the den for multinational business expansion.