Gulf Islamic Investments acquires UK's London House Exchange
What's the deal? Gulf Islamic InvestmentsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (GII) has acquired a majority stake in London House Exchange (LHX), the UK trading venue formerly known as Property PartnerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, for an undisclosed sum. The deal, announced on September 30, follows formal approval from the Financial Conduct Authority. Better (NASDAQ: BETR) retains a strategic minority shareholding.
Who's who? GII is a Sharia-compliant alternative investment group based in the GCC region, with roughly $3.5 billion of assets under management across private equity, real estate, private credit, and financial services. LHX runs a regulated marketplace that lets investors buy fractional shares in UK property.
Why now? The acquisition is GII's second move into UK financial services, following its investment in OffaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an FCA-regulated Sharia-compliant home finance provider. It also owns Vision BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a licensed digital Islamic bank in Abu Dhabi, and runs a private credit platform across the GCC.
What changes for customers? Little, for now. Trading was paused until 11:00 on Monday, October 5, but LHX says investments, shareholdings, and client money will be held as before, with the same regulatory protections. The platform remains authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
What's the endgame? GII plans to push LHX beyond UK property into broader alternative assets, including private credit and Sharia-compliant income-generating investments. Other plans include priority access to opportunities alongside GII, from IPOs to real estate, plus regulated tokenisation of real-world assets and investment in platform technology.
Anand Periwal, chief operating officer for financial services at GII, said LHX "represents an important addition to GII's growing financial services ecosystem" and pointed to plans to "broaden the range of investment opportunities available to clients."
The signal: Gulf capital is steadily building integrated, Sharia-compliant financial platforms with a foothold in regulated Western markets. For LHX, the deal offers deeper backing to expand past its property niche; for GII, it adds a regulated UK trading venue to a stack that already spans banking, home finance, and private credit.
Read more: londonhouseexchange.com
Image credit: ell brown
