SeaPay memorandum with PayTabs sets a SAR 35 million price
SeaPay's proposed sale to PayTabs is a memorandum: Arab Sea's filing prices 100% at SAR 35 million, with no immediate accounts effect.
Having tracked Gulf acquiring deals that stay unsigned until a sale and purchase agreement, the useful fact in the SeaPay memorandum is the split between the two documents. Arab Sea Information Systems Company told the market on October 25, 2026 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with PayTabs Group, also named Growth Makers Company, for a proposed sale of its entire holding in Arab Sea Financial Company, which trades as SeaPay. The seller's filing prices that 100% stake at SAR 35 million, and PayTabs' release, which describes the same memorandum, leaves the consideration out.
A memorandum can name a figure and still leave the accounts untouched, which is what this filing does. The parallel on this desk is NEOPAY's agreement to buy 65% of noon payments, another Gulf payments stake whose notices still wait on approvals and disclose no price. SeaPay is the opposite shape: the page carries a price, and the transfer of the shares remains a later event.
What the seller put on the exchange
Arab Sea posted the exchange table on its site and on its investor page. The memorandum was signed on October 22, 2026, corresponding to 1448-05-11. It covers a proposed sale of the company's entire 100% ownership of Arab Sea Financial Company (SeaPay) for SAR 35,000,000, subject to the terms in the memorandum. The next steps are due diligence, a definitive sale and purchase agreement, and regulatory approvals plus no-objection confirmations. Arab Sea's announcement and the same table on Mubasher, timestamped 09:37 on October 25, 2026, match on every line.
The memorandum stays valid for six months from signature by both parties, or until that sale and purchase agreement is executed, whichever comes first. The filing records no related parties. Arab Sea states that signing the memorandum, on its own, produces no immediate financial impact, with any impact determined only on completion under the applicable regulations, and only after due diligence, definitive agreements and approvals.
What PayTabs said, and what it left out
PayTabs' release of October 26, 2026 says the memorandum was disclosed on the Saudi Exchange and would put SeaPay's acquiring next to PayTabs' acceptance, processing and switching. The note then sets targets that are separate from the equity figure: 200,000 merchants in Saudi Arabia by 2030, and more than USD 100 billion of payments a year by 2030, plus an ambition to pursue a public listing. Those targets sit outside Arab Sea's consideration cell.
"PayTabs was founded in Saudi Arabia with the ambition to build payment infrastructure for the region. SeaPay represents an important step in strengthening the economics of that business in Saudi Arabia. By combining SeaPay’s capabilities, we see opportunities to increase revenue and develop new financial services for businesses operating in the Kingdom."
— Abdulaziz Al Jouf, founder, chief executive and chairman of PayTabs Group (PayTabs release via Zawya, October 26, 2026)
Thamer Al Luhaidan, chief executive of SeaPay, called the step "a strategic opportunity to explore new avenues for growth and expansion in Saudi Arabia’s digital payments sector."
Who the texts leave out
The licence description sits in PayTabs' release, which calls Arab Sea Financial Company a Saudi fintech established in late 2022 and licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for an aggregation account, and it describes gateway, point-of-sale (POS) and SoftPOS work. The exchange table carries the price and leaves that licence undescribed. Geidea, HyperPay, STC Pay and mada are absent from both texts. HALA's $157 million Series B, Beyon Money's still-open move toward barq and Tabby's credit franchise are the neighbouring Gulf stories, and none of them is this share sale.
What has to happen before a sale exists
Due diligence can revise the SAR 35 million figure or end the talks. The six-month duration ends when a sale and purchase agreement is signed or when the window closes, whichever is first, and approvals plus no-objection confirmations still sit in front of any transfer of the 100% stake. The USD 100 billion line remains PayTabs' group volume target. Only an agreement inside the window can move the listed company's accounts, and a window that runs out leaves SeaPay inside the information-technology group the October 25 disclosure still describes.
This article is informational analysis only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Terms in a memorandum can change before any sale completes. Do your own research and consult a regulated financial adviser before making any investment decision.
Reporting by Rick Steves. Filed 27 October 2026, 12:02 GMT.
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011.
