GFH Partners Ltd. (“GFH Partners”), a Dubai International Financial Center (“DIFC”) headquartered investment manager and the global real estate investment arm of GFH Financial Group, has acquired a majority stake in Devmark Real Estate Brokers L.L.C (“Devmark”), the UAE’s leading real estate development project sales and marketing platform.
Founded in 2018, Devmark has led the sales effort for more than 30 projects with a combined gross development value exceeding AED 10 billion and a sales distribution network spanning over 2,000 brokerage firms and over 15,000 brokers. Devmark is the UAE’s leading development sales & marketing consultancy playing a pivotal role in helping residential developers drive sales performance through a comprehensive 360° approach from project positioning, marketing, through to sales execution.
Devmark’s founders, Sean McCauley and Richard Aybar, will continue to lead and manage the business. Together with GFH Partners, they will pursue growth across the UAE and GCC, while introducing institutional capital solutions for developers and new forms of product differentiation in the residential development market.
The UAE residential market has become a focal point of attraction to regional and international investors alike as total real estate transaction volumes exceed AED550 billion year-to-date, and a growing subsegment of branded residential offering where Devmark has proven capabilities. The strategic acquisition of Devmark marks GFH Partners’ second UAE real estate platform majority share acquisition, following its acquisition of the GFH Partners Manrre REIT (CEIC) PLC, and signals its entry into the GCC residential sales and marketing ecosystem, complementing its thematic exposure in the real estate sector where its platform currently has exceeded 33 assets and AED1.5 billion in asset value under management. This strategic partnership forms part of GFH Partners’ broader global platform partnership strategy, through which the firm invests alongside proven operators to create scalable, sector-focused platforms across key real-estate verticals.
Nael Mustafa, Chief Executive Officer of GFH Partners, commented: “The acquisition of Devmark represents an extension of our platform partnership strategy, investing alongside exceptional management teams to build enduring, sector-specific platforms. Devmark’s market leadership and deep developer relationships make it a critical partner as we expand our GCC footprint and create greater connectivity between investors, capital markets, and developers across our ecosystem.”
Sean McCauley, Chief Executive Officer of Devmark, added: “Joining forces with GFH Partners provides Devmark with institutional scale, financial strength, and access to global capital flows. Together, we will continue to elevate standards of project marketing and sales in the region, while pursuing growth opportunities across GCC’s most dynamic residential markets. Most importantly, this partnership enhances the value we can deliver to developers, enabling us to connect them with new sources of capital, more sophisticated strategies, and a broader ecosystem of investors and buyers to accelerate project success.”
Richard Aybar, Managing Director at Devmark, commented: “The landscape for real estate sales and marketing is evolving rapidly, and the institutionalization of Devmark marks an important next step in that evolution. Our partnership with GFH Partners enables us to bring greater structure, scale, and financial depth to the way we support developers helping them achieve both their commercial goals with enhanced efficiency and strategic insight.”