Prime Highlights
- Gulf Partners Group has closed a $100 million credit facility for NinjaTrader, marking the Bahrain-based firm’s first major deal since its launch.
- The transaction opens a broader strategic relationship between GPG and Payward, with plans to explore further Gulf investment opportunities.
Key Facts
- Gulf Partners Group is a Bahrain-based private markets firm investing across private equity, private credit, and real estate, targeting deals of $50 million to $100 million.
- NinjaTrader, a wholly owned subsidiary of Payward, is one of the largest retail futures trading platforms in the US, serving hundreds of thousands of traders.
Background
Gulf Partners Group, a Bahrain-based private markets firm, has closed a $100 million senior secured private credit facility for Chicago-based NinjaTrader Group Holding, one of the largest retail futures trading platforms in the United States.
The structure of the deal was done with Payward, which is the holding company for both NinjaTrader and the crypto exchange Kraken. The funds will help support the ongoing growth of NinjaTrader while the platform expands its business as it gains further traction in the American retail futures space, with over a hundred thousand users.
It represents GPG’s first large deal since the company’s launch at the start of the year and highlights how Gulf-based investors are increasingly interested in international private credit deals. GPG targets transactions valued between $50 million and $100 million, investing across private equity, private credit, and real estate.
GPG co-chief executive Mohammed Alqahtany said the deal reflects the firm’s core purpose of connecting the Gulf to compelling global investment opportunities. Fellow co-chief executive Yousif Al Abdulla said the transaction demonstrates the strength of long-term relationships and the firm’s execution capabilities.
NinjaTrader chief executive Martin Franchi said the company had spent two decades building a leading futures platform and that the right capital partners would power its next chapter of growth.
Beyond the immediate facility, the deal marks the start of a broader strategic relationship between GPG and Payward, with both parties planning to explore further investment and business opportunities across the Gulf region. Payward co-chief executive Arjun Sethi cited the region’s early adoption of digital asset regulation as a key reason for its strategic importance.
GPG is headquartered in Bahrain and plans to expand into Abu Dhabi.
