The Daily Circuit
š Hello from the Middle East!
Today in The Daily Circuit, weāre looking at Omanās new $9 billion refinery, Masdarās investment in wind energy, Elon Musk suing Sam Altman and Dubaiās new robot beach patrol. But first, catching up with the family office crowd.
Fridays are an unusual day to host a business gathering in the UAE, with the midday call to prayer drawing Muslim workers away and many starting their weekend by mid-afternoon. After all, it is a country that only shifted to a Saturday-Sunday weekend in 2022. But family office activity is hot enough ā and the Investopia crowd has not yet completely vacated Abu Dhabi ā that the organizer thought he could pull it off.
āThe Emiratis will join after prayer time,ā Obediah Ayton, Director of Dhabi Hold Co. and the organizer of the Abu Dhabi Family Office Summit, told The Circuitās Kelsey Warner, among a couple of hundred investors mingling at the Rotana on Saadiyat Island this morning.
The second edition of the family office gathering focused on rising momentum that has made the Gulf a hotbed for high-net-worth families. Shaikha Al Nowais, Vice President of hospitality group Rotana, which hosted the event, tackled the topic of growing family office relevance in the region head-on in a panel discussion, alongside Suresh Vaidhyanathan, CEO of Ghassan Aboud Group; Khadeer Shariff, Managing Director of Al Siraj Holding and Sikander Hazir, COO of Dawood Group.
Financial wealth is exploding in the UAE, with KPMG forecasting last year an increase of 46% to a half trillion dollars in holdings by 2026. The Big Four audit firm pointed to the countryās combination of tax advantages, strategic location, financial services sector, and lifestyle amenities as reasons for the growing popularity.
One of the highest profile moves has been by Bridgewater Associates Founder Ray Dalio. Almost a year ago, the prolific investment guru opened a regional outpost of the Dalio Family Office in Abu Dhabi, adding to offices in the U.S. and Singapore, to oversee philanthropic and investment initiatives. This week, he was named to the board of a UAE national mission to address global water scarcity named for President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and vice-chaired by Mubadala chief Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
š° Developing Stories
WELL POSITIONED
Omanās new $9 billion Duqm refinery is managing to avoid some though not all the fallout from attacks that have disrupted tanker traffic on the Red Sea. Duqm CEO David Bird tells The National that the facility ā jointly owned by Omanās OQ Petroleum and Kuwaiti Petroleum International Co. ā is āwell positionedā on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula and safe for now from the conflict zone. Still, he says, insurance rates have gone up everywhere because of the Red Sea trouble. The Arab Times reports that OQ Petroleum Co. is considering listing the Duqm refinery on the Omani Stock Exchange, contingent on agreement by its Kuwaiti partner.
BREEZY DEAL
Abu Dhabi alternative energy company Masdar has completed the acquisition of a 49% stake in one of the worldās biggest planned offshore wind farms as it looks to hit 100 gigawatts of renewable energy in its portfolio by 2030. The 3-gigawatt Dogger Bank South project in Britain is a Ā£11 billion ($13.9 billion) joint investment with German renewables company RWE. The deal also builds on the Ā£10 billion UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership to invest in technology and infrastructure to support the energy transition. Construction on the project will begin as early as 2025.
š² Sovereign Circuit
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority: The sovereign wealth fund has divested its $261 million stake in Precinct Properties New Zealand.
Mubadala: ADNOC acquired a 24.9% stake in Vienna, Austria-based OMV Aktiengesellschaft, which was previously held by Mubadala Petroleum and Petrochemicals.
Public Investment Fund: PIF-owned New Murabba Development Co. is working with the kingdomās Tourism Development Fund to turn Riyadh into what it projects to become āthe worldās largest downtown.ā Murabba expects the mega-project to add $48 billion to the kingdomās non-oil GDP and create 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030.
š£ Circuit Chatter
š¤ Mission Drift: Elon Musk filed a lawsuit on Thursday against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman for breach of contract, alleging they abandoned the company’s original mission to develop AI for humanity and are now focused purely on profit. Altman is reportedly courting UAE investors, among others, for a trillion-dollar target to make the chips needed to power his products.
š² Opening Doors: Morgan Stanley said it will open an office in Abu Dhabi in addition to its branch in Dubai. Fiera Capital also said it will establish an Abu Dhabi office, which will be co-led by Paul Doyle and Xavier Zawisza.
šµ Beach Patrol: Dubai signed a draft agreement with Terminus Group to launch an AI-powered beach robot patrol to detect riders of scooters and bikes who violate helmet rules and other regulations.
š± Content Hub: Tiktok signed a preliminary agreement with the Qatari government at Web Summit Qatar this week to establish a studio in the country, which aspires to be a regional content hub.
š®š³ Passage from India: In its march to boost tourism, Saudi Arabia will seek to attract 7.5 million Indian travelers a year by 2030, Alhasan Aldabbagh, president of APAC markets at Saudi Tourism Authority, tells India Today. Asked whether a Taylor Swift concert might be in store, Aldabbagh said, āMaybe there will be some good news soon.”
āŖā© Closing Circuit
šļø Big Winner: Al Rajhi Bank, whose shares have risen 270% since 2015 to make it Saudi Arabiaās largest lender, is likely to win big if the U.S. Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, Bloomberg reports.
āŖļø Shariah Fund: Saudi asset manager SNB Capital has launched a Shariah-compliant $230 million fund to invest in top-tier oil & gas fields, including an indirect investment in Repsol E&P, a joint venture between Spainās energy company Repsol and US-based investment firm EIG.
š Community App: Hayi, a Dubai startup which seeks to help neighborhoods advertise services and build a sense of community through its app, raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round, led by Plus VC.
š“ Coastal Dreams: Egypt hopes its Mediterranean coast can attract millions of foreign tourists after agreeing to a $35 billion development deal with the UAEās ADQ sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg reports.
š Power Circuit
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed attended a ceremony on Thursday night marking the launch of the XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition, which is linked to the new national water initiative and will have a total prize pool of $119 million. The event took place at the site of the first water reservoir in Abu Dhabi, the historic āNaqa Bin Ateej.ā
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, chaired a meeting of the ADNOC Boardās Executive Committee, reviewing the national oil companyās progress on energy transition and artificial intelligence.
āæ On the Circuit
Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, the UAEās Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), received the Energy Instituteās Presidentās Award in London on Thursday, becoming the first person from the Middle East to receive the organizationās most prestigious honor for work to accelerate the net zero transition.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump defended hosting the PIF-backed LIV Golf tour at his club in New Jersey telling ESPN, “I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia and they have been friends of mine for a long time.ā
Bolivian-American billionaire Marcelo Claure tells Bloomberg he is focused on his Mubadala-backed Bicycle VC firm and other investment vehicles, preferring to leave behind the stormy period when he served as chairman of WeWork.
Sara Abdulhadi has been appointed CEO for Gulf International Bankās branch in Bahrain and Khaled Abbas was named CEO of the bankās branch in Saudi Arabia.
š¶ Culture Circuit
š°ļø Time Piece: The sixth installment of Abu Dhabiās Culture Summit kicks off on Sunday at Manarat Al Saadiyat, bringing together representatives from more than 90 countries. This yearās event explores the interaction between humanity and the concept of time. For the first time, the summit will include a ministerial dialogue, in collaboration with UNESCO.
š· Photo of the day
š Circuit Calendar
Feb. 29-March 2, Sakhir, Bahrain: Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. Bahrain International Circuit.
March 4-5, New York: MindTheTech NY Conference. U.S. investors meet Israeli startups at conference sponsored by Calcalist and Bank Leumi. Quorum by Convene.
March 4-7, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: LEAP. A global technology conference for developers, startups, investors, C-suite and media. King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center.
March 5-6, Doha, Qatar: International LNG Forum. Gathering of industry leaders and key stakeholders to discuss the future of gas in a key export market. InterContinental Doha Beach.
March 5-6, Jerusalem, Israel. Life Science & Health-Tech Week in Israel. Healthtech company executives, investors, and government leaders join the annual conference. International Conference Center.
March 7, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Bloomberg Power Players Jeddah. Investor conference focusing on the impact of money on professional sports. Jeddah Yacht Club.March 7-9, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
March 14-15, Cannes, France: Saudi Talks. Saudi Arabia brings more than 20 government and industry figures to discuss the kingdomās real estate sector at MIPIM, the worldās largest real estate event. Palais des Festivals.
