Baker McKenzie on Arcapita’s acquisition of DataFlow Group 

Baker McKenzie has advised EQT Private Equity and other selling shareholders in relation to the sale of their interests in the DataFlow Group (“DataFlow” or “Company”), an international provider of credential verification services, to Arcapita Group Holdings Limited (“Arcapita”), the global alternative investment firm. 

The acquisition represents yet another milestone in Arcapita’s growth strategy, having completed five direct investments and eight add-on acquisitions in the business services space, in the US and GCC, over the past five years. 

Baker McKenzie played a key role in advising EQT Private Equity and other selling shareholders, highlighting the firm’s commitment to facilitating strategic global transactions. 

The cross-office, cross-practice Baker McKenzie team was led by Private Equity/M&A Partners Derek Poon and Tracy Wut. Baker McKenzie’s core team included Byron Frost (counsel, Tokyo), Sunny Li (associate, Hong Kong), Angie Yeung (senior associate, Hong Kong) and Xinxing Chen (partner, Hong Kong) from the Firm’s Private Equity/M&A practice, along with David Monnier (partner, Riyadh, pictured), Harikumar Pillay (principal, Singapore) and Vivian Tsang (associate, Hong Kong) from the Antitrust & Competition practice, Carrie Lui (special counsel, Hong Kong) from the Tax practice, and Mini vandePol (partner, Hong Kong) and Gerald Lam (senior associate, Hong Kong) from the Investigations, Compliance & Ethics practice. 

Commenting on the deal, Derek Poon, who is the Head of Baker McKenzie’s Asia Pacific Private Equity Practice, said: “We are very pleased to have assisted EQT Private Equity in relation to this transaction, which strongly positions DataFlow for its next phase of growth with Arcapita.” 

DataFlow Verification Services Limited, a part of The DataFlow Group, is a provider of regulation-mandated pre-employment primary source verification (PSV) services in the GCC. With over 850 employees in nine countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and a global network encompassing more than 160,000 issuing authorities across 190 countries, DataFlow is a recognized leader in the credential verification field. 

Under EQT Private Equity’s ownership, DataFlow evolved into a digitally empowered credential service provider specializing in regulation-mandated pre-employment primary source verification services.