Virtuzone, the UAE’s leading and award-winning provider of company formation solutions, corporate services, and tax consultancy, announced its acquisition by Ascentium, a Singapore-based global business services platform supporting over 20,000 active clients across 25 cities and nine markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
This pivotal acquisition—which includes Virtuzone’s sister companies Taxready.ae, Next Generation Equity and MAKTABI—reinforces Virtuzone’s leadership in the UAE’s business landscape and empowers Ascentium to establish a strong presence in the country and tap into emerging markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
With the UAE’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows reaching USD 30.6 billion in 2023 and the Middle East’s GDP sustaining its pace to hit 3.9% in 2025, the acquisition aligns with Virtuzone and Ascentium’s unified vision to harness this opportunity and strengthen their presence in fast-growing markets in the region and beyond.
Neil Petch, Chairman and Co-founder of Virtuzone remarked, “As global leaders in the corporate services industry, Ascentium embodies the core values that Virtuzone has upheld over the years, empowering businesses and delivering customer-centric solutions, transformative innovation, and unrivalled service excellence. By combining their business acumen with our local market leadership and expertise, I believe this new era will bring significantly greater value to our clients, partners and the communities that we serve.”
Through this acquisition, Virtuzone clients and partners will have the opportunity to scale globally and reach new markets, such as the Far East and Latin America, while streamlining compliance with international business laws and leveraging cutting-edge AI-powered tools to digitise their processes, boost productivity, and improve customer satisfaction and retention.
Lennard Yong, Founding Management and Group CEO of Ascentium added, “We are pleased to expand in the GCC through the acquisition of Virtuzone and we welcome them to the Ascentium group. Their expertise and commitment to excellence will bolster our organisation and drive us towards our strategic goals. Virtuzone’s strong presence in the Middle East complements our existing capabilities and together we look forward to achieving new milestones and delivering exceptional value to our global clientele.”
Backed by Hillhouse Investment, an Asian private equity firm managing USD 100 billion in assets, Ascentium will infuse capital into Virtuzone, enabling the Dubai-based company to broaden its suite of corporate services, amplify its local footprint and resources, and serve as a springboard for Ascentium’s expansion from APAC to the Middle East.
Founded by Zhang Lei in 2005 with initial investor capital from the Yale University Endowment, Hillhouse is a leading diversified asset manager with strategies across equities, credit, and real assets. The firm manages capital for global institutions, including non-profit foundations, endowments, and pensions and has a proven track record of completing large complex transactions across more than 30 countries.
George Hojeige, Group CEO of Virtuzone shared, “We are excited to join the Ascentium family where our shared values and vision will drive us towards even greater success. The opportunities ahead for Virtuzone within Ascentium are truly promising, especially in expanding our reach in the Asia-Pacific region. Ascentium’s global network and expertise will enrich our service offerings both in activities and in regions covered, and allow us to deliver tailored solutions to our clients, further solidifying our position as a leader in the corporate solutions sector.”
A pioneer in the UAE’s company formation industry, Virtuzone is renowned for introducing AI-driven tools for businesses, including TaxGPT, the world’s first AI-powered UAE corporate tax assistant; ChatVZ, the world’s first business setup AI chatbot; and SwyftPlan, a business plan builder powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Virtuzone also provided complimentary tax and accounting solutions for thousands of SMEs in the UAE upon the introduction of corporate tax laws in the country.
