The Weekly Circuit
👋 Hello from the Middle East!
Today in the Weekly Circuit, we’re looking at the fleet of flying taxis coming to Dubai, the record downpour that paralyzed DXB, Gulf grocery chain Spinneys’ IPO plans and Tiger Woods on whether the PGA-LIV Golf merger will ever tee off. But first, a meeting of the synthetic minds for Microsoft and G42.
In the global race to develop artificial intelligence, alliances are everything, as players jockey for the talent, infrastructure and capital needed to harness the world-shaking technology. This week the U.S. made a play to bring the UAE into its fold, giving the go-ahead for one of its biggest tech companies to plunge $1.5 billion into Abu Dhabi’s AI firm G42. Microsoft’s investment is one of the largest bets yet from an outside player on the country’s well-documented ambitions to become a world-leading technology hub. The deal gives Microsoft a minority stake in G42 and offers Vice-Chair and President Brad Smith a seat on its board.
The commercial partnership is “backed by assurances to both governments” for secure AI development, the companies said, a signal to critics that the U.S.-UAE technology partnership is strong and that G42 has severed ties to China. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, traveled twice to the UAE to talk about security arrangements for the Microsoft deal and other partnerships, The New York Times reports.
“Microsoft’s investment in G42 marks a pivotal moment in our company’s journey of growth and innovation, signifying a strategic alignment of vision and execution between the two organizations,” Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Chairman of G42, said in a statement. Sheikh Tahnoon, who also serves as UAE National Security Advisor and Chairman of sovereign wealth funds ADQ and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, was photographed at a signing between Smith and G42 CEO Peng Xiao. The two companies named Sherif Tawfik, a 24-year Microsoft veteran, as Chief Partnership Officer.
Meanwhile, Dubai slowly drained out on Wednesday after the worst rainstorm on record brought the city to a halt. Flooded runways at Dubai International Airport, gushers from ceilings in Dubai Mall and a waterlogged Rolls Royce that was stranded on an exit ramp were some of the vivid images and videos shared across social media.
DXB made a statement via X advising passengers not to come to the airport unless “absolutely” necessary due to continued flight delays and diversions. Emirates Airline also suspended check-ins for its flights through midnight Wednesday. Dubai was this week ranked the busiest international airport in the world for the tenth consecutive year.
Welcome to The Weekly Circuit. Read on for the stories, deals and players at the top of the news across the MENA business landscape. Please send comments and story tips to [email protected].
FUTURE FLYERS
Skyports clinches $110 million for Dubai’s flying taxi terminals
Amid clearing skies, the vision for flying taxis in Dubai got a little sharper this week as London-based Skyports clinched funding to start building the futuristic aircraft’s take-off and landing areas, The Circuit’s Kelsey Warner reports.
Flying funds: Skyports, which is running the project, announced on Wednesday that Spain’s ACS infrastructure company is the lead equity investor in a $110 million Series C fundraising round.
Taking off: In March, Skyports inked a deal with Dubai and federal regulators as well as U.S. aircraft company Joby Aviation to get Joby’s aircraft into service by 2026.
Click here to read the full story.
SHOPPING FOR SHARES
Supermarket chain Spinneys prepares for IPO in Dubai
UAE supermarket chain Spinneys said on Tuesday it will sell 25% of its shares in an IPO on the Dubai Financial Market, The Circuit’s Jonathan Ferziger reports.
On sale: The company, which also operates in Oman and plans to enter the Saudi market, expects to start trading in May after a subscription period for investors that ends April 30.
Join the queue: The announcement follows reports that Lulu Group International, one of the biggest retail operators in the Middle East, is planning a dual listing later this year on the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi exchanges.
Click here to read the full story.
💲 Sovereign Circuit
Public Investment Fund: A month after his Bahamas golfing summit with PIF head Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Tiger Woods spoke publicly for the first time about the encounter in which they discussed the pending deal to unite the PGA Tour with Saudi-backed LIV Golf. “I don’t know if we’re closer, but certainly we’re headed in the right direction,” said Woods, a PGA player-director. PIF-backed ROSHN Group signed a $57 million contract with Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan to build luxury villas in Riyadh’s Sedra residential project. The sale of a $7.5 billion stake in London’s Heathrow Airport to the PIF and other investors is at risk of collapse after Australia’s Macquarie Group ruled out its participation, The Telegraph reports.
Mubadala: Getir, a fast-growing delivery app partly owned by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, may sell some of its assets, including U.S. online grocer FreshDirect, Sky News reports. Atvos, a Brazilian producer of biofuels that is 31.5% owned by Mubadala, signed an agreement last week to build a $69 million biomethane factory in the country based on sugar cane waste. Mubadala’s Sanad Group signed a $145 million five-year contract extension to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services in Abu Dhabi for South Korea’s Asiana Airlines. Mubadala’s Dolphin Energy gas company and NYU Abu Dhabi awarded the inaugural Dolphin Energy Fellowship to Maryam Al-Memari to conduct climate change research at the university.
ADQ: Abu Dhabi’s TAQA, the energy and water business owned by ADQ, is in talks with Spain’s Criteria over a potential takeover of Spanish energy company Naturgy, Reuters reports, citing Madrid’s Cinco Dias. PureHealth, which counts ADQ as its largest shareholder, plans to open up a pediatric center of excellence in the UAE capital in collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, a top-ranked pediatric provider in the U.S.
Kuwait Investment Authority: CVC Capital Partners, a Luxembourg-based private equity firm that is backed by the KIA, is planning an IPO in Amsterdam that aims to raise as much as 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion).
Temesek: Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund opened a regional office in Paris last week that will oversee investments in the Middle East and Africa.
↪↩ Closing Circuit
💰 NEOM Bonds: Saudi Arabia’s NEOM is planning its debut riyal bond sale for later this year, appointing HSBC and the securities units of Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi National Bank to advise on the sale of as much as $1.3 billion of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, Bloomberg reports.
🗝️ Doors Shut: BeyondTrust, which develops technologies for regulating building access, bought Israeli security startup Entitle for close to $150 million, Globes reports.
☀️ Chinese Loan: Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power received an equity bridge loan from Bank of China worth $80 million to finance its solar power plant in Uzbekistan, the first loan agreement in China’s currency between a Chinese bank and a Saudi enterprise.
🤑 Menlo Money: Andreessen Horowitz closed on $7.2 billion for its newest set of funds, beating a $6.9 billion fundraising target, Axios reports.
💰 Capital Gains: Triton Liquid, a new digital assets hedge fund started by American entrepreneur Chris Keshian, has set up in Abu Dhabi with a target of raising $50 million in additional capital this year. It currently has $43 million in assets under management.
🗣 Circuit Chatter
🪐 Space Mission: The UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre announced that Shareef Al Romaithi, an Emirati airline pilot, has been selected as a crew member in the next phase of a NASA Mars simulation mission.
🚄 Gibraltar Tunnel: Planners for an underwater rail connection between Morocco and Spain through the Strait of Gibraltar have revised the tunnel route to connect directly between Casablanca and Madrid in a 5 ½-hour trip, aiming for completion by 2030.
🚦AI Traffic: The Abu Dhabi government’s Integrated Transport Centre signed a preliminary agreement with LocationMind, a Japanese data analysis company, to collaborate on using artificial intelligence to analyze road congestion, predict accidents and improve traffic signals.
🏗️ City Builders: The workforce building Saudi Arabia’s NEOM is expected to surpass 200,000 in 2025 as the pace of construction accelerates. The kingdom has scaled back the pace for building the futuristic megaproject, now projecting one planned city, called The Line, will be home to 300,000 people in 2030, down from 1.5 million, Bloomberg reports. Ultimately the 170-kilometer desert metropolis is planned to house 9 million people.
💻 Fresh Faces: Abu Dhabi startup ecosystem Hub71 has admitted 25 new startups from 11 different countries, bringing the total number of startups currently in Hub71’s programs to 223.
🌍 Power Circuit
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday in Islamabad, where they discussed closer ties and investment possibilities.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and six ministers visited Qatar on Tuesday to meet Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman and discuss investment projects.
King Hamad of Bahrain received Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki Al Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Foundation’s Center for Research and Islamic Studies and former Ambassador to the U.S., at the Al-Safriya Palace on Tuesday.
Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah, Kuwait’s former Oil Minister and Finance Minister, was appointed as the country’s Prime Minister on Monday by Emir Sheikh Mishaal al-Sabah and asked to form a new government. He replaces Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Sabah, who resigned.
Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed, UAE Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, attended the fifth day of competitions on Monday of the Festival for Purebred Arabian Camel Racing at the Al Wathba Camel Race Track. He was joined by Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan, Adviser to the UAE President and Chairman of the UAE Camel Racing Federation.
➿ On the Circuit
Mohamed Abushahab, the UAE’s newly appointed Ambassador to the United Nations, presented his credentials on Tuesday to Secretary General Antonio Guterres, taking over from Lana Nusseibeh.
Pro golfer Rory McIlroy on Tuesday said he plans to finish his career on the PGA Tour, denying a report that he had been offered $850 million and an equity stake in the LIV Golf League.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s frequent trips to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are the subject of a Bloomberg feature story on how the world’s largest asset manager is finding growth in the Gulf.
Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, will speak at Investopia’s conference in Milan, Italy, next month, alongside Fabrizio Rindi, Chairman of Investcorp, and Alfonso Dolce, CEO of Dolce & Gabbana.
Former Formula One champion Nico Rosberg is launching a 30 million euro ($32 million) venture capital fund called Rosberg Ventures which will target tech-focused VC firms on behalf of family offices across Europe. It is seeking to raise 75 million euros ($80 million) by year-end.
🎶 Culture Circuit
🛹 Paris Dream: Moroccan athlete Aya Asaqas, who is on the verge of becoming the first Arab and North African female skateboarder to qualify for the Olympics, is the subject of a feature by The National. With 100 days until the Paris 2024 Olympics, the 21-year-old is currently at No 44 in the World Skateboarding Rankings and has two more qualifying events to compete in to secure her spot.
📷 Photo of The Week
🗓️ Circuit Calendar
Apr. 16-18, Abu Dhabi, UAE: World Future Energy Summit 2024. A platform to showcase the solutions to some of the most critical challenges identified at COP28. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Apr. 16-18, Dubai, UAE. Middle East Energy. Energy leaders gather to debate and shape the future. Dubai World Trade Center.
Apr. 23-25, Dubai, UAE: GISEC Global. A forum for furthering the key discussions that are helping to define cyber resilience and connecting the global cybersecurity community. Dubai World Trade Center.
Apr. 25-26, Abu Dhabi, UAE: DriftX. An event for smart, autonomous and sustainable urban mobility across air, land, and sea organized in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Abu Dhabi’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (SAVI) cluster and Bayanat. Yas Marina.
Apr. 28-29, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: World Economic Forum Special Meeting. A gathering of investors, politicians and experts on topics of collaboration, growth and energy for economic development. TBC.
Apr. 29-May 1, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Future Hospitality Summit. An international gathering hosted in cities around the world bringing together the most influential hospitality investors and developers. Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah.
Apr. 29 – May 5, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. A key event for the publishing industry in the Middle East and North Africa. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Apr. 30-May 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Mobility Live. A conference and exhibition sponsored by the Abu Dhabi transport regulators, gathering disruptive technology developers in transportation and the public sector. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Apr. 30-May 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Middle East Rail. The leading conference in the region for rail innovation, technology and strategy. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
May 5-8, Los Angeles: Milken Institute Global Conference. Politicians, financiers, media and philanthropists convene to discuss challenges across themes like innovation and technology, health and medical research, diversity and inclusion. The Beverly Hilton.
May 13-15, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week. A conference focusing on investments, and innovation to solve the most important global health challenges. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center and Abu Dhabi City.
May 14-15, Abu Dhabi, UAE: J.P. Morgan Asset Management: Life Sciences Innovation Summit. A gathering aimed at drawing startups and investors from the life sciences sector to Abu Dhabi. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
May. 14-16, Doha, Qatar: Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg. A news-driven event dedicated to global business and investment. This year’s theme is “A World Remade: Navigating the Year of Uncertainty.” Request your invite here. Fairmont & Raffles, Doha.
May 29-31, Marrakech, Morocco: GITEX Africa. The second edition of the biggest tech and startup gathering in Africa. Place Bab Jdid.
