#finance

Abu Dhabi’s IHC approves merger of its real estate firm Al Tamouh with Al Qudra Holding

Investment holding company Al Qudra’s board has approved a new foreign ownership limit of 30 per cent of outstanding shares

Saudi wealth fund PIF raises $3.2bn from sale of STC stake

The Public Investment Fund offered 120 million shares in Saudi Telecom at SAR100 each

Dubai plans to list district cooling firm Empower in IPO push

The government said last month it wants to sell shares in 10 companies, and it has been encouraging private and family-owned businesses to follow suit

UAE stock market

UAE stock exchanges to begin operating Mondays-Fridays

The banking and financial sectors are expected to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the newly structured weekends

Khalifa University

UAE’s Khalifa University launches investment arm with Dhs100m endowment

The newly formed Khalifa University Enterprises Company will act as the business and investment arm of the university

Saudi Arabia

Moelis plans Saudi hires as it seeks to open Riyadh office

The Saudi economy, the biggest in the Middle East, is growing at its fastest pace in almost a decade

Dubai

State-owned Bank Syariah Indonesia to open representative office in Dubai in 2022

It will work across three key business areas: global sukuk, remittance, and trade finance

Dubai UAE

Dubai issues 55,194 new business licences during the first 10 months of 2021

The figure marks a 69 per cent increase over the same period in 2020 when 32,626 licenses were issued

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE MOCCAE, Eugene Willemsen, and Aamer Sheikh

PepsiCo launches MENA edition of Greenhouse Accelerator programme

It has partnered with the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment for the initiative

fintech

VentureSouq launches MENA region’s first fintech fund

The $50m fund will invest in early-stage fintech and SaaS companies across the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan

Emirati employee

Emirati members of Dubai SME to get up to seven-year exemption on licence fee

The fee exemption applies to registered Emirati members who have not completed the five-year period

Up to 66% of Indian expats plan to increase their investments in the UAE – HSBC

Property is seen as the most important investment class for Indians in the UAE

DubaiDubai Future District Fund

New Dhs1bn fund to support tech startups in Dubai

Sharif El-Badawi has been appointed as CEO of the Dubai Future District Fund

UAE’s Century Financial to launch new funds, AI trading platform and property crowdfunding site

The investment firm is diversifying its business with plans to also launch in Saudi soon, says Ali AbdulKareem Ali, senior executive director at Century Financial

ClearTax expands its operations into the Middle East, raises $75m

The tax and compliance technology solution provider is looking to enter the UAE by mid-2022 with e-invoicing and VAT offerings within the country

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Bahrain Bourse sign strategic partnership agreement

The two entities will introduce products and services including exchange-traded funds, smart order routing and cross-border direct trading

Visa Dubai

Visa opens its new flagship regional headquarters in Dubai

Spanning 100,000 sq ft, the new HQ will serve almost 90 countries across the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region

Investcorp

Bahrain’s Investcorp builds EUR1bn European real estate portfolio

It recently acquired ten UK industrial assets for a combined purchase price of GBP56.7m

Dubai Financial Market

New board of directors announced for Dubai Financial Market

The new board will be headed by Helal Al Marri

Dubai announces plans to list utility DEWA in the ‘coming months’

The utility has projects valued at around Dhs86bn that are planned to be commissioned in the next five years

UAE’s amended law on the decriminalisation of bounced cheques to take effect in Jan 2022

The scope for criminalisation of returned cheques due to insufficient funds has been narrowed and confined to cases of bad faith and other cheque crimes

Nasdaq Dubai Islamic Development Bank

Saudi’s Islamic Development Bank lists $1.7bn sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

IsDB is now the largest supranational sukuk issuer on Nasdaq Dubai with a total value of $18.8bn through 13 issuances listed on the exchange since 2016

Abu Dhabi fertilizer firm Fertiglobe raises $800m in IPO backed by Singapore

The company will be valued at $5.8bn and the stock will start trading in Abu Dhabi on October 27

Different Arab money

Saudi VC firm STV looking to raise $1bn for Middle East tech fund

Interest in the technology industry in the Middle East has increased the past few years

Emirates NBD

Dubai’s Emirates NBD nine-month profit rose an annual 29% to Dhs7.3bn

The bank reported a nine-month total income of Dhs17.3bn as compared to Dhs18.3bn in the previous year

Fertiglobe set to price Abu Dhabi IPO at top end of price range

ADNOC and OCI are offering 13.8 per cent of Fertiglobe in the IPO

Saudi oil discovery

Aramco oil pipeline investors ready multi-billion dollar bond

The consortium, led by Washington-based EIG Global Energy Partners, may raise at least $4.5bn

Dubai-world-trade-centre-DWTC

CoinMENA partners with DWTC to set up crypto asset and blockchain hub in Dubai

The MoU was signed during the opening day of the Future Blockchain Summit at GITEX Global 2021

Etihad

Etihad raises $1.2bn in aviation’s first sustainability-linked ESG loan

Loan terms tied to targets to reduce CO2 emissions, increase corporate governance and promote female participation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Sheikh Mohammed approves Dhs290bn UAE general budget for 2022-2026

It includes a budget of Dhs58.931bn for 2022, of which 41.2 per cent will be allocated for the development and social benefits sector