Dubai: Dubai headquartered - and London-listed - payment processing firm Network International has received buyout interest from the private equity investor CVC Capital Partners, according to a Bloomberg report. If the deal goes ahead, it would be the second such involving a global investment firm and a UAE payment entity.

Early last year, Abu Dhabi mega-bank FAB sold 60 per cent in Magnati to Brookfield Business Partners, with the payment firm valued at around $1.5 billion. The deal was also one of the drivers behind FAB's sterling results for 2022.

In a recent statement, Network International had said it would continue an aggressive share buyback program this year as well. At the time, some analysts had talked about a potential stake sale by Network, which has been expanding in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other African markets while building on its strengths in the home market of the UAE.

According to Bloomberg, Network has been speaking with advisers after attracting takeover interest from CVC. The Network stock closed 23 per cent per cent up on FTSE, for a market value of 1.6 billion pounds.