ADNOC’s $14 billion bid to acquire German plastic maker Covestro may be in trouble.

European Union regulators announced a formal investigation on Monday over concerns that the Abu Dhabi oil company’s state funding gives it an advantage that could hamper fair competition.

The acquisition of Covestro was previously approved, but the investigation adds a new wrinkle to the deal.

EU regulators issued a statement saying that a guarantee by the UAE to support the purchase of Covestro may have enabled ADNOC to make an offer with a valuation and financial terms that competitors couldn’t match.

The Abu Dhabi company said it will contest the findings.

The influx of hedge funds, asset management firms and family offices to Dubai is gaining momentum as the city becomes a more powerful magnet for international wealth.

The number of funds setting up shop in the Dubai International Financial Centre grew 72% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2024, to reach 85, the DIFC said on Monday. Among those were RV Capital and Silver Point Capital, which joined Millennium, Point72 and other hedge funds in Dubai.

Also flocking to the city were wealth and asset management firms, which increased 19% to 440 in the first six months of 2025, including Bluecrest Capital, PIMCO and TransAmerica Life Bermuda. The number of family offices in the DIFC jumped 72%.

“Dubai has entered a new and greater phase of growth, and these results highlight the competitiveness, attractiveness, and global confidence it enjoys,” Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, the President of the DIFC, who is also UAE Finance Minister and First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, said in a post on X.

Nearly 10,000 high-net-worth individuals are likely to move to the UAE this year, more than to any other country in the world, according to London-based wealth consultants Henley & Partners.

Netflix will team up with MBC Group’s Shahid, the world’s biggest Arabic content streaming platform, to offer a joint subscription bundle via MBCNOW.

The offer is already available in Saudi Arabia, with a wider rollout planned across the MENA region, The National reports.

The first regional agreement of its kind steps up the increasingly-fierce competition for Arabic-language viewers, after U.S. media giant Warner Bros. Discovery bought a one-third stake in Dubai streaming company OSN in March for $57 million.

Demand for Arabic-language content grew by 16 times between 2020 to 2024, according to research by Parrot Analytics and Rise Studios.

The UAE is earning its reputation for offering ultra-luxurious hospitality to provide accommodations for those who seek a higher standard of living.

Aldar, the country’s largest residential developer, shattered records by selling an eight-bedroom mansion in Abu Dhabi for $109 million, the UAE capital’s most expensive home ever.

Located in the exclusive beachfront community of Faya Al Saadiyat, the 6,561 square-meter estate boasts a private car gallery, golf simulator, home cinema, wellness suites, and direct beach access, The National reports. 

In the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, a new Hard Rock Hotel is hitting the high notes with plans to open in 2028 near Al Marjan Island, where the Gulf’s first casino resort is under development. The hotel, backed by RAK Hospitality and Malta’s db Group, will feature 300 rooms, 395 branded homes, and a vibrant events venue.

Outside of the country, Dubai’s Jumeirah Group operates a $50,000-a-night private island resort off Tanzania that is part of a surge in global investor interest in Africa’s luxury hospitality market, Bloomberg reports.

Etihad Airways, meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s flag carrier, which is owned by sovereign wealth fund ADQ, announced on Thursday that it has received the first Airbus A321LR, featuring rare first-class seats on a narrow-body jet. It’s part of a 30-aircraft expansion that will form the backbone of the airline’s growth through 2028.

For the first time, a Saudi soccer team has been acquired by a foreign investor.

The Saudi Pro League’s Al-Kholood club was bought by the Harburg Group, a business founded by American private equity investor Ben Harburg, for an undisclosed price.

The sale to a foreign group represents a change in Saudi Arabia, which has invested heavily in European soccer and spent hundreds of millions of dollars poaching foreign players, including Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The kingdom’s Ministry of Sport announced two other soccer team acquisitions on Thursday: The Al-Zulfi club was sold to Riyadh-based Nojoom AlSalam Co. and Medina-based Al-Ansar was acquired by Awdah Al Biladi and his Sons Contracting Ltd.

Playing off the annual pro tennis tournament it co-sponsors in Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund convened a business forum this week to explore how governments can stimulate economic growth through investment in sports and bolstering use of artificial intelligence.

The event, which took place on the sidelines of the Mubadala Citi DC Open, was organized with the Los Angeles-based Milken Institute think tank and drew participants from politics, business and sports, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Michael Milken, the billionaire finance guru and Chairman of the Milken Institute, joined discussions at the conference with Homaid Al Shimmari, Deputy Group CEO of Mubadala, and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser. Also participating was Mark Ein, Owner of the Mubadala Citi DC Tennis Open, Partner in the NFL’s Washington Commanders and CEO and Founder of security firm Kastle Systems.

A key theme in the discussions, which were off-the-record, was the role of sports in Abu Dhabi’s emergence as a global city and in the urban development of Washington, D.C. Participants also discussed the UAE’s trillion-dollar economic partnership with the U.S., the need for public-private cooperation in AI, and strategies to ensure that technological advances benefit all sectors of society.

Al Shimmari said Mubadala is seeking to play a greater role in the city beyond tennis and funding by introducing educational, art and youth development programs. “Our time here also enabled important conversations – like those with the Milken Institute – on investment, economic growth, and the role of sport in unlocking opportunity,” Al Shimmari told The Circuit.

Among the business participants at the forum were Talal Al Kaissi, Group Chief Global Affairs Officer at Abu Dhabi’s G42 technology company; David Scott, Chief Strategy and Safety Officer at Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX; and Mitchell Rales, Co-Founder and Chairman of Washington, D.C.-based Danaher Corp., and a limited partner in the Commanders.

Several players at the tennis tournament joined the discussions, including Frances Tiafoe and Reilly Opelka from the U.S., Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and Eugenie Bouchard from Canada.

The UAE is eager to push ahead with the joint development plan on artificial intelligence that U.S. President Donald Trump announced during his visit to Abu Dhabi in May.

In a message on X posted Wednesday, UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba noted his country’s pledge for $1.4 trillion in investments focusing on American AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing.

“The UAE welcomes President Trump’s AI Action Plan and is ready to fast-track our strategic AI partnership with the U.S.,” Al Otaiba wrote. “We are collaboratively setting a new ‘Gold Standard’ for securing AI models, chips, data and access.”

The ambassador called attention to the planned UAE-U.S. AI campus that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed displayed to Trump, which will be able to provide a massive 5 gigawatts of power for AI data centers.

Also highlighted by Al Otaiba was a partnership deal agreed upon by Abu Dhabi’s G42 tech company, Oracle and the Cleveland Clinic to launch an AI-based global healthcare delivery platform.

In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the government launched its new National Artificial Intelligence Index on Wednesday to measure how agencies perform in terms of AI readiness and use of advanced data-driven technology.

Wio Invest, the app-based platform backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, has surpassed $1 billion in assets under administration in less than two years, propelled by a new wave of digitally native and financially curious investors in the UAE.

Wio Invest said it has seen more than $4 billion in order volume year-to-date.

The so-called “neobroker” is now among the fastest-growing digital platforms globally and offers simplified access to global markets, ETFs and virtual assets via the Wio Personal app, which is run by related entity Wio Bank.

The platform seamlessly integrates opportunities to invest in UAE ventures, including a tab for taking part in local market IPOs and a partnership with Abu Dhabi alternative investment manager Lunate offering the option to place recurring orders for Lunate Chimera ETFs.

Customers have shown a strong interest in U.S. tech stocks and crypto.