The Weekly Circuit
👋 Hello from the Middle East!
In the Weekly Circuit today, we’re looking at Nice One Beauty’s post-IPO stock surge in Riyadh, ADIA’s role in a takeover offer for Malaysia Airports, Dubai Aerospace’s acquisition of Nordic Aviation Capital and an interview with Janus Henderson’s Mideast chief in Dubai. But first, Damac’s Hussain Sajwani takes the stage in Mar-a-Lago.
With less than two weeks to go before he returns as President, Donald Trump is making clear that the Gulf’s power players will find a friend in the White House.
Damac Group CEO Hussain Sajwani for one. The billionaire Dubai builder turned up on Tuesday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where he stood beside the President-elect and pledged an investment of at least $20 billion to build new data centers across the U.S.
Sajwani, who has described himself in press releases as “Trump’s Middle Eastern business partner,” said Damac would move ahead with the plan “if the opportunity, the market, allows us,” The New York Times reports.
The relationship between the two men dates back a decade when Trump and Sajwani teamed up to develop luxury golf courses in Dubai. Trump said the massive investment in data centers will “keep America on the cutting edge of technology and artificial intelligence.”
A second Gulf financial chieftain who has been circulating around Trump since his election in November is Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund.
Al-Rumayyan is also Chairman of LIV Golf, the upstart PIF-owned tournament that first challenged and now may merge with the PGA.
The new league, which poached some of the PGA’s top stars with contracts of as much as $200 million, announced Tuesday that it would hold a tournament in April at the Trump National Doral resort near Miami for the fourth 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].
CIRCUIT INTERVIEW
Janus Henderson pivots after acquiring NBK to expand in Gulf
Janus Henderson, a London-based investment firm with more than $380 billion under management and 25 offices around the world, is increasingly bullish on markets in the Gulf.
Among the areas drawing Janus Henderson and its peers to the region is the growing potential of Sharia-compliant investments, Meshal AlFaras, the firm’s Dubai-based Head of Middle East, Africa & Central Asia, says in an interview with The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie.
Meshal cites stability in governance and massive infrastructure investments as central reasons that the Gulf states have become magnets for global capital.
SPARE CHANGE
Gulf sovereign funds look to Asia as Mubadala leads dealmaking
Competition between sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar is likely to deepen in 2025 as the three Gulf states pour money into China and other developing markets.
The growing focus on Asia is evident from data assembled by Singapore-based Global SWF, whose 2024 report released last week showed Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala edging past Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as the world’s most active sovereign investor.
Mubadala and its subsidiaries invested $29.2 billion last year, up from $17.5 billion in 2023, and a 67% increase in total deals.
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💲 Sovereign Circuit
Public Investment Fund: The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund closed a $7 billion Islamic loan with a group of 20 international and regional banks. The announcement came hours after the country’s finance ministry opened a bond sale and days after it raised $2.5 billion from three banks, Bloomberg reports. PIF-owned ACWA Power secured $692 million in funding for an 1,100 MW wind power plant in Suez, Egypt.Mubadala: The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund acquired an 80% stake in UAE-based Global Medical Supply Chain and Al Ittihad Drug Store from GlobalOne Healthcare Holding, which retains 20% in the companies.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority: A consortium that includes ADIA extended its takeover offer for Malaysia Airports Holdings to Jan.17, increasing its stake from 41% to 70% over the past month. Fisher Investments announced completion of a $3 billion minority investment by Advent International and ADIA, valuing the firm at $12.75 billion.
Alpha Dhabi Holding: Plenty Unlimited, a U.S. vertical farming startup backed by Jeff Bezos that agreed to team up with Abu Dhabi-owned Alpha Dhabi Holding to build a $136 million facility to grow strawberries indoors, is in talks for a new funding round that could replace its existing stockholders, Bloomberg reports.
↪↩ Closing Circuit
📈 Peak IPO: Nice One Beauty Digital Marketing Co. surged as much as 30% in its debut today on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange after a $320 million IPO, rising as to as high as 45.5 riyals a share.
💳 Bad Debt: Deutsche Bank AG is acquiring an $800 million portfolio of bad loans from First Abu Dhabi Bank, outbidding U.S. hedge funds in a rare Gulf deal for distressed debt, Bloomberg reports.
💸 Driving Investment: Oman’s Ominvest said it secured a $500 million credit facility from Gulf Investment Bank, ABK and Gulf Bank that will enable the firm to “drive impactful investments.”🛫 Runway Haven: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise agreed to acquire Nordic Aviation Capital, an aircraft leasing company based in Dublin, Ireland, expanding its fleet to 750 aircraft that are valued on a proforma basis at approximately $22 billion.
🚢 Djibouti Port: Morocco’s top port operator Marsa Maroc will invest an undisclosed sum in Damerjog Oil FZE, which is planning to build an oil and gas port on Djibouti’s Gulf of Aden coast, Reuters reports, citing a Moroccan government decree.
🗣 Circuit Chatter
🏦 Breaching Barriers: Blackstone, Apollo Global and KKR are among the private equity firms preparing to lobby the incoming Trump administration to eliminate regulatory barriers to broad pools of capital, including retirement savings, in a move that could unlock trillions for the industry, the Financial Times reports.
💵 Keeping Nimble: Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund, dismissed 7% of its workforce on Monday, in a move described as “keeping the organization nimble,”Bloomberg reports.
✈️ New Destinations: Emirates’ first Airbus A350 entered commercial service with its inaugural flight from Dubai to Edinburgh, marking the start of 65 A350s joining its fleet, with three cabin classes and upcoming routes to eight global destinations.📈 High Hopes: Eric Trump’s enthusiastic greeting by crypto traders at Bitcoin Mena 2024 in Abu Dhabi last month was cited by the Financial Times as an illustration of the industry’s confidence that Donald Trump will usher in a golden age for digital currencies when he takes office.
⚡ Charging Up: Syria will receive two electricity-generating ships from Turkey and Qatar to boost energy supplies hit by damage to infrastructure during President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, Reuters reports, citing Syria’s SANA state news agency.
🌍 Power Circuit
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed traveled to the city of Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan for a meeting on Sunday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to discuss trade and political ties.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, and the Ruler of Dubai, approved housing projects worth $1.5 billion that are connected to a fund headed by his wife, Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum, which aims to strengthen family well-being and community values.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, received Asaad al-Shibani, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Syrian Transitional Government, on Monday. Sheikh Abdullah also hosted Dr. Abdullah Khaleel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a press conference on Tuesday that the UAE has agreed to roll over the payment of $2 billion due by Pakistan this month.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE Foreign Minister,met on Tuesday with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Abu Dhabi, where they talked about relations between the two countries and regional geopolitical issues.
➿ On the Circuit
Badr Abdelattym, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates, met with Mohammed Al Yousef, Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion, during his visit to Oman on Monday.
Ashish Khanna was appointed CEO of Adani Green Energy, succeeding Amit Singh, who will move to another leadership role within the Adani Group, the company owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani that has extensive activities in the Gulf.
Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Dubai-based Emaar Properties and digital commerce firm Noon, attributes his global real estate success to relentless intensity and “paranoid love,” speaking in an interview with Arabian Business.Hassan El-Khatib, Egypt’s Minister of Investment, awarded golden licenses, which are aimed at attracting local and foreign investments, to nine companies ranging from a peanut producer and a warehouse builder to a wind farm.
Dana White, head of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a close ally to US President-elect Donald Trump has been appointed as a board member of the social media giant Meta.
🎶 Culture Circuit
✨ Golden Designs: Actresses Mindy Kaling, Kristen Bell and Ari Graynor strode across the Beverly Hilton’s red carpet at the Golden Globes on Sunday night with dresses designed by Mohammed Ashi, a Saudi designer based in Paris. Kaling wore a gold column gown from Ashi Studio and Bell sparkled in a gold-beaded dress taken from the label’s Spring/Summer 2024 couture collection. Gaynor garnered attention with Ashi’s black gown that featured cutouts across the bodice.
📷 Photo of the Week
🗓️ Ahead on The Circuit
Jan. 7-9, Dubai. Arab Plast International Road Show. A trade show for the plastics, petrochemicals and recycling industries. Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Center.
Jan. 7-9, Dubai. Dubai International Pharmaceuticals and Technologies Conference and Exhibition. The event brings people from the pharma chain to network, share knowledge and deal make. Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Center.
Jan. 7-10, Las Vegas, Nev. Consumer Electronics Show. One of the world’s biggest stages for the consumer electronics consumer and the entire tech industry. Las Vegas Convention Center.
Jan. 9-13, Abu Dhabi. International Renewable Energy Youth Forum.Held on the sidelines of IRENA’s Energy Forum. Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi.
Jan. 11-13, Abu Dhabi. International Renewable Energy Forum. The U.N.’s IRENA agency’s Assembly meets to make policy decisions and discuss advancing energy transition efforts. St Regis Saadiyat.
Jan. 11-13, Dubai. The 1 Billion Followers Summit. An event that covers the world’s top creators and entertainers. Jumeirah Emirates Towers.
Jan. 13-18, Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. The conference brings together changemakers to discuss the key challenges in today’s world. ADNEC.
Jan. 16-19, Dubai. Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Golf Tournament bringing in world class athletes. Emirates Golf Club.
Jan. 20-24, Davos, Switzerland. World Economic Forum. The annual WEF meeting brings world leaders, business leaders and thought leaders together under one roof to discuss the world’s challenges. Davos-Klosters.
Jan. 27-30, Dubai. Arab Health. Premier healthcare event where attendees network with global leaders, discuss ground-breaking innovations and seek to shape the future of healthcare. Dubai World Trade Center.
Jan. 27-28, Riyadh. Private markets in Saudi Arabia and GCC. Exploring fundraising strategies, value creation and opportunities across private equity, credit and venture capital within Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East. The Fairmont Hotel.
Jan. 27-30, Miami, Fla. iConnection Miami Alts. Networking event for fund managers and finance industry professions. Miami Beach Convention Center.
Feb. 3-6, Dubai. Medlab Middle East 2025. The show attracts exhibitors whether global giants or emerging startups to discuss digital health solutions. Dubai World Trade Centre.
Feb. 9-12, Riyadh. Leap 2025. Riyadh’s tech event that brings in tech innovators and leading experts from around the world to discover new ideas, build new partnerships, and connect with inspiring mentors and investors. Riyadh Front Expo Centre.
Feb. 11-13, Dubai. World Government Summit 2025. Annual event brings in world leaders and business leaders from the region and outside to discuss the most pressing matters. Madinat Jumeirah.
Feb. 14-16, Munich Security Forum. Known as one of the world’s leading forums for debating international security policy. Hotel Bayerischer Hof.
Feb. 17-21, Dubai. Gulf Food. In its 30th edition, the exhibition brings in many more companies to show their work on food and the industry’s use of technology. Dubai World Trade Center.
Feb. 22-23, Miami, Fla.. FII Priority. Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative connects U.S. and Middle Eastern investors. Faena Hotel & Forum, Miami Beach.
