Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings to merge McLaren with EV maker

After taking control of McLaren Automotive last year, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned CYVN Holdings is starting to roll out its turnaround plans for the venerable British sports car maker.

The investment company, a unit of the ADIA sovereign wealth fund, is preparing to merge McLaren with its London-based electric-vehicle startup Forseven Holdings, Bloomberg reports.

At that point, the combined company will start producing high-end sport utility vehicles and sedans, following a blueprint that has been successful for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche, the news agency said.

CYVN plans to announce the move in the coming weeks, with former Jaguar Land Rover executive Nick Collins in charge of the merged automaker.

The Daily Circuit: ADQ launches pharma firm + Eid holiday getaways

👋 Hello from the Middle East!

Today in The Daily Circuit, we’re looking at new progress for non-oil growth in the Gulf, a profusion of mangroves in Abu Dhabi, why Mumtalakat may sell a stake in McLaren and SVC’s fireside chat with General Atlantic’s Bill Ford. But first, another big life sciences play out of the UAE.

ADQ has launched a new healthcare holding company named Arcera that consolidates the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s pharmaceutical interests in Switzerland, Turkey and Egypt, making it one of the MENA region’s largest life sciences businesses. The new company, based in Abu Dhabi, intends to double its revenue over the next five years through international acquisitions and partnerships, ADQ said in a statement on Monday. 

Arcera’s portfolio will consist of 2,000 branded medicines, addressing illnesses in the areas of neurology, gastroenterology, cardiovascular, pain relief, rheumatology and infection. The holding company owns ADQ’s stakes in Switzerland’s Acino International, Turkey’s Birgi Mefar Group and Egypt’s Amoun Pharmaceutical Co.

Abu Dhabi has taken a forward-leaning stance on healthcare investments coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic and today aims to become a regional hub for life sciences — one of the hottest areas of investment that covers everything from genomics and pharmaceuticals to clinical trials and personalized medicine. ADQ, chaired by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, is spearheading a number of those efforts under its mandate to be the lead investor driving the UAE’s economic transformation from petro-state to a knowledge-based economy.

The formation of Arcera follows a familiar playbook: In January 2022 ADQ merged its healthcare subsidiaries with Alpha Dhabi’s Pure Health Medical Supplies to create PureHealth, the country’s largest healthcare provider. ADQ is planning to list the new entity, Bloomberg reports, as it did with Purehealth last December. The firm’s $1 billion listing surged 84% on its debut. 

NON-OIL OUTLOOK

Non-oil economic growth appears strong in the Middle East amid diversification efforts by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other states, helped by government support and reforms to attract private capital, according to the latest PwC Middle East Economy Watch. Oil prices are expected to drop this year amid supply and demand growth uncertainty. “Strong growth in the non-oil sector is expected to counterbalance these impacts,” said Richard Boxshall, Partner and Chief Economist, PwC Middle East. Inflation cooled in the GCC last year, with PwC composite data for the region averaging 2.6% and ending the year at 1.7% YoY, down from a post-Covid high of 4.3% in July 2022.

PROJECT MANGROVE

Abu Dhabi has planted 850,000 mangrove trees along the emirate’s coastal areas as part of its Ghars Al Emarat initiative to mark last year’s COP28 climate summit. The project committed to planting 10 mangroves for each of the 85,000 visitors to the two-week United Nations conference in December that took place at the Expo City Dubai. Mangroves are hardy shrub-like trees that form dense thickets and adapt to growing in coastal saline waters. They are a popular tourist attraction in Abu Dhabi, where kayaks, canoes and paddle boats are available for rental to let visitors explore mangrove wetlands that have become habitats for flamingos, crabs and turtles.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority: The sovereign wealth fund and India’s Kotak Alternative Investment Fund agreed to invest $240 million in Indian real estate group Prestige.

The Sovereign Fund of Egypt: The fund agreed to buy control of the company that owns Egypt’s Misr Pharmacies chain and expects to complete the deal by the third quarter, Daily News Egypt reports.

Mumtalakat: CYVN Holdings, an investment firm backed by Abu Dhabi, may buy a stake in British luxury carmaker McLaren, as part of a group led by Bahrain’s Mumtalakat sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg reports.