The Weekly Circuit
đź‘‹ Hello from the Middle East!
This week we’re looking at the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s steady approach to amassing $1 trillion in assets, Egypt’s $43 billion European weekend, Aramco’s efforts to diversify beyond the oil market and prospects for a new Trump tower gracing the Jeddah skyline. But first, old family-run conglomerates are backing New Hollywood.
A 44-year-old Abu Dhabi family conglomerate is looking to bankroll Hollywood blockbusters to secure its future fortunes as the UAE capital establishes itself as a hub for content creation and big-budget productions. United Al Saqer Group, founded by members of the Abu Dhabi royal family, has invested $200 million in The DNEG Group, valuing the British-Indian firm at more than $2 billion.
DNEG – known for special effects work on films like “Dune,” “Oppenheimer” and “Interstellar” – said the cash injection will be used to open a new office and “visual experience hub” in Abu Dhabi, “with plans to develop a world-class ecosystem in the Middle East for content production, storage and distribution.” The funds will also help scale its technology division, Brahma, which is developing an AI-powered, photo-real CGI creator.
The investment is the latest example of the Gulf’s evolution as a source of capital. In recent years, investment activity, largely led by the sovereign wealth funds, has become more active and strategic while at the same time coming with strings attached to bring firms with Gulf backing to do business locally here in the region – helping to reach targets on job creation and economic diversification away from oil.
United Al Saqer has for decades poured money into traditional sectors that propelled the wave of economic development after oil was first discovered like construction, restaurants and car sales. The group’s subsidiaries build mosques, hospitals and grocery stores across the region. They also sell the majority of commercial vehicles on the UAE’s roads and most of the BMWs purchased in Abu Dhabi.
The group’s foray into modern filmmaking is in step with another recent move: a research endowment it made to Abu Dhabi’s artificial intelligence university late last year to develop AI applications in digital health.
Meanwhile, from meeting U.S. policymakers face-to-face in Washington to chatting with OpenAI execs in San Francisco, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Talent Attraction Thani Al Zeyoudi says his cross-country tour last week should pay dividends in relationship-building abroad.
Along with a raft of discussions about artificial intelligence “as the defining technology of our era,” Al Zeyoudi’s Silicon Valley sojourn put him in direct contact with a wide gamut of Silicon Valley investment firms, he said on Tuesday in a LinkedIn post.
Those included TPG, Thoma Bravo, Viking Global Investors, Lux Capital, Khosla Ventures, Brave Capital, Audere Capital, Flagship Capital Management, General Catalyst and Mubadala Ventures – which the minister called “sources of capital formation being directed to bleeding-edge technologies shaping the world today.” He said companies including Flexport, Interos, Lightmatter and Lila Sciences were “keen to explore partnerships with the UAE.”
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].
TRILLION-DOLLAR TANK
Saudi PIF swings into the black, closing in on $1 trillion benchmarkÂ
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund swung into the black in 2023, recording revenues of SR 331 billion ($88.3 billion) and more than doubling earnings growth from 2022, according to an audit by KPMG, The Circuit’s Kelsey Warner reports.
Trillion Dollar Baby: The fund is also nearing the trillion-dollar mark in assets under management, surging 28% to $986 billion last year, Arab News reported.
On the Up: The PIF fueled growth through the receipt of a transfer of 4% of Aramco shares; a turnaround in fortunes at Softbank, which in previous years has been the source of losses; and a flurry of acquisitions including in technology and energy diversification.
CAIRO DEALMAKERS
Egypt negotiating $43 billion in business deals with Europe
Egypt emerged from its weekend huddle with the European Union holding signed agreements for billions of dollars in business deals ranging from construction projects to renewable energy, The Circuit’s Jonathan Ferziger reports.
Cash Splash: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Egypt-EU Investment Conference outside Cairo on Saturday that deals potentially worth over 40 billion euros ($43 billion) were being negotiated with Egyptian partners.
Green Revival: Among them were agreements on four green ammonia projects including an $11 billion deal with Frankfurt-based DAI Infrastruktur. The Sovereign Fund of Egypt also signed a deal with BP, UAE’s Masdar, Egyptian infrastructure company Hassan Allam Utilities and Infinity Power to invest in a green ammonia plant in Ain Sukhna Port on the western coast of the Gulf of Suez.
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đź’˛ Sovereign Circuit
Public Investment Fund: Saudi Aramco, in which the PIF owns a 16% stake, has awarded construction contracts worth $25 billion for the development of its Jafurah gas project, as it looks to diversify its fuel production beyond oil. Meanwhile, private equity firm Ardian, which has a co-investment with the PIF in Heathrow Airport, has raised $3.2 billion for its sixth-generation co-investment platform, Ardian Co-Investment Fund VI, drawing 188 investors from the Middle East, Americas, Asia and Europe. TVM Capital Healthcare, a Dubai and Singapore dual-headquartered private equity firm that counts the PIF’s Jada Fund of Funds as a limited partner, made a $35 million investment late last month in Boston Oncology Arabia, a bio-generic drugs manufacturing company based in Saudi Arabia.
ADQ: PureHealth, which counts ADQ as its largest shareholder, has sold its entire equity interest in Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre and Yas Clinic Group for an undisclosed amount.
Lunate: The new $105 billion investment fund set up last year by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed’s International Holding Co. and ADQ, may seek to raise an additional $5 billion in financing that it could use for potential deals, Bloomberg reports.
Mubadala: Abu Dhabi-listed Yahsat, a subsidiary of Mubadala, has chosen Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch its new geostationary satellites, which are scheduled to enter space in 2027 and 2028 and cost $1.1 billion.
↪↩ Closing Circuit
🏢 Property Fund: Dallah Healthcare Co. signed a preliminary agreement with AlJazira Capital, Dallah Real Estate Co. and Tatweer Co. to set up a fund worth more than $320 million that will acquire and develop land in Riyadh.
🛫 Flying High: Qatar Airways reported a 39% increase in net profit for last year, which reached a record 6.1 billion Qatari riyals ($1.67 billion). Revenue grew by 6% to 81 billion riyals in the 2023 fiscal year ended March 31, the government-owned airline said.
🚢 Fleet Deals: Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC Logistics & Services has awarded $2.5 billion worth of shipbuilding contracts to South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Oceanbuild as part of the company’s expansion strategy in new liquefied natural gas.
đź•Ś Bond Issue: Arada Developments, a UAE-based property developer, received approval from Nadaq Dubai to offer a $400 million Sukuk Islamic Bond.
đź’» Blockchain Manager: SendBlocks, an Israeli blockchain data management startup, raised $8.2 million in a seed funding round led by Castle Island Venture.
đź—Ł Circuit Chatter
🌴 Tourist Magnet: Talaat Moustafa Group plans to invest $21 billion in the SouthMED tourism development on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast west of Alexandria, and expects to generate $35 billion in sales, CEO Hisham Talaat Moustafa said in an interview with Reuters.
🌍 Tunnel Vision: Spain and Morocco have revived 40-year-old talks on building a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar that could reshape trade between Africa and Europe at a cost of $6.4 billion.
đź“š Job Skills: The World Bank approved a financing package totaling $700 million to fund new programs in Jordan for improving early childhood education and providing young people with job training.
🤖 Double Clicking: The $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft in Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence firm G42, and a follow-on deal for the firms to build a data center in Kenya, is facing scrutiny from Capitol Hill and the Pentagon. Still, of the international efforts by the Biden administration to curtail technology competition with China, the relationship “holds the most promise,” Bloomberg reports.
🏗️ Trump KSA: The Trump Organization and Dubai-based Dar Global announced plans for a luxury residential tower under the Trump brand in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Financial terms were not disclosed.
🌍 Power Circuit
Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, launched the Burjeel Institute for Global Health in New York on Tuesday. The institute is part of efforts by the UAE-based healthcare group to recruit top clinical and research talent as it positions itself as a leading health provider.
Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced on Monday the discovery of seven oil and gas deposits in the kingdom’s Eastern Province and Empty Quarter.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding, was reappointed to the post through June 4, 2027, by the company’s Board of Directors.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, announced on X that Dubai has won the bid to host ICCV 2029, a prestigious conference on computer vision and artificial intelligence.
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, visited the trading offices of ADNOC Group in the Abu Dhabi World Market, where he met graduates of the ADNOC Academy of Trade and Trading and encouraged them to help the emirate become a world trading center for new energy resources.
âžż On the Circuit
Abdullah bin Amer Al-Sawaha, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, met with Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon AWS Cloud, during his visit to the company’s Seattle, Wash., headquarters.
Saudi Economy Minister Faisal Alibrahim said construction delays in Neom and other mega-projects are connected to the complications of creating new sectors in the economy and “accelerating our diversification story,” speaking last week in an interview with CNBC at the “Davos in China” summit in Dalian, China. He said “feedback from the market” and “feedback from delivery” will enable planners to “make adjustments as necessary.”
Dr. Noha Khater, Co-founder of Egyptian healthtech platform Almouneer, is eyeing expansion for the diabetes-focused service in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, she told The National in an interview.
Ivanka Trump, the entrepreneur and former executive in her father Donald Trump’s real estate business, tells podcaster Lex Fridman about her admiration for Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower and artificial islands, citing an architect who said the city’s only limits are “gravity and imagination.”
Fatima Al-Dhaheri, Head of Abu Dhabi’s economic unit for food and water security known as the AGWA Cluster, led a delegation last month to the Future-Food Tech Summit in Chicago. She was joined by “senior representatives” from ADIO, Abu Dhabi’s government agency responsible for inward investment; Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem; the Technology Innovation Institute, an advanced technology research center in Abu Dhabi; as well as Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, the food safety, food security and biosecurity regulator in Abu Dhabi, according to a statement.
🎶 Culture Circuit
🎨 Paper-Mache: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York has acquired five paper-mache sculptures by Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, The National reports, citing Lawrie Shabibi, the Dubai gallery representing the artist. A new Guggenheim museum under construction in Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open in 2026.
🏖️ Beach Getaway: The newly opened Naama Beach Villas & Spa in Fujairah brings a boutique Maldives-inspired experience with private pool villas to one of the UAE’s most desirable coastal destinations, according to a first look review by The National. The luxury resort boasts a completely private beach and 44 pool villas, each one with up to four bedrooms and tended to by a personal butler.
đź“· Photo of the Week
🗓️ Ahead on The Circuit
July 2-Aug. 25, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Esports World Cup. An international competition for professional gamers with a $60 million prize pot. Boulevard City.
July 10-11, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Global EV and Technology Forum. The inaugural summit in Saudi Arabia bringing together policymakers, companies and investors focused on sustainable urban mobility solutions. Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center.
July 15-26, Granada, Spain: ADIA Lab International Summer School. A course of lectures and case studies to explore the critical role of trust and safety in AI, examining the ethical, technical and societal implications of AI applications. University of Granada.
Aug. 12-15, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Food Expo. One of the kingdom’s largest trade shows for the food & beverage industry. Riyadh Front Exhibitions.
Sep. 30-Oct. 2, Dubai, UAE: Future Hospitality Summit. The global conference for leaders in the hospitality industry expands this year at a new location with dedicated space for ESG planning, country pavilions and a larger exhibition area. Madinat Jumeirah.
