UAE telecom giant e& is cashing out of Vodafone, selling its entire 16.2% stake for about $5.9 billion to French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel’s investment vehicle Vega.

The sale gives e&, which is majority-owned by the Emirates Investment Authority, a clean exit from the holding it started building in 2022.

Under e&, Vodafone has spent the past three years shrinking its European portfolio, selling businesses in Spain and Italy, while merging with Three UK to create Britain’s largest mobile operator.

E&, short for Emirates Telecommunications Group, first bought a 9.8% stake in Vodafone in 2022, then steadily increased its holding to 16.2%.

The transaction ends the companies’ four-year relationship, and former e& CEO Hatem Dowidar has resigned from Vodafone’s board.

Saudi Arabia’s Humain artificial intelligence company and Canada’s Cohere have formed a partnership to build one of the region’s largest AI computing centers, with operations targeted to begin in late 2027.

The announcement came during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to the kingdom, the first by a Canadian premier in 26 years.

During the prime minister’s visit, the two countries signed more than $760 million in agreements and expanded cooperation in energy, mining and infrastructure.

Carney also met Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser in Jeddah on Thursday, and the two countries agreed to deepen cooperation in mining and energy.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the majority owner of Humain, accepted Carney’s invitation to a Toronto investment summit in September.

Oman and Jordan agreed to create a $100 million joint investment company to back projects in the Hashemite kingdom’s energy, mining and technology industries.

The venture will be owned equally by Oman Investment Authority and Jordan’s Social Security Investment Fund, with each contributing half the capital, Arab News reports.

Executives from the two funds say the project is intended to support economic diversification, deepen cross-border investment and expand commercially viable projects in high-growth sectors.

The announcement follows the World Bank’s approval of a $700 million loan to support Jordan’s private-sector growth.

The Iran war’s toll on corporate earnings will become clearer this week as Gulf companies start to report second-quarter earnings.

Abu Dhabi-based ADNOC Gas should reflect a near 20% drop in domestic gas sales following Iranian drone and missile attacks at its Habshan gas processing plant in April that disrupted supplies, Reuters reports. 

Dubai-based Emaar Properties, Aldar and other developers are likely to demonstrate the war’s toll on the UAE housing market with declines reported in second-quarter residential sales.

Lenders including Saudi National Bank and Emirates NBD will show the effects of weaker trade finance, tourism and international spending, the news agency said.

Saudi Arabia’s economy is now forecast to grow 1.7% this year after the IMF cut its estimate by 1.4 percentage points, while lowering its overall 2026 growth forecast for the Middle East to 0.7% from 1.9% because of the fallout from the Strait of Hormuz disruption.

Oil prices surged on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire with Iran was “over,” jolting energy markets and raising fresh concerns about the security of Gulf oil exports.

Brent crude jumped more than 5% to above $78 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbed above $74, wiping out several days of market calm.

The U.S. also revoked a waiver allowing Iran to sell oil, as American forces struck more than 80 targets in Iran that officials said were linked to attacks on commercial shipping.

Iran retaliated with strikes on U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, extending the conflict and increasing the risk of further disruption in the Gulf.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains well below normal after attacks this week on three commercial vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker and a Qatari LNG carrier, threatening another squeeze on global energy supplies.

Abu Dhabi’s Inception42 plans to start deploying agentic artificial intelligence across the UAE federal government this quarter, with a goal of automating 50% of government operations within two years.

The government-backed company, a unit of G42, says the systems will independently carry out complex, multi-step tasks with limited human intervention.

Chief Executive Ashish Koshy told Arabian Gulf Business Insight the rollout is on a fixed timetable and is beginning to be used by government agencies.

The initiative is part of a broader G42 and Microsoft collaboration expected to bring $15.2 billion of AI investment to the UAE while creating a unified AI platform for governments and businesses.

Saudi Aramco is slashing crude prices with its biggest discount in 25 years.

The state oil giant cut the price of its flagship Arab Light crude for Asian buyers by $11 a barrel for next month, leaving it $1.50 below competing grades from the region. It’s the first time since 2020 that Saudi Arabia has sold Arab Light at a discount, and the biggest monthly reduction in its official selling prices since at least 2000, Bloomberg reports.

China, meanwhile, has sharply increased purchases of Middle Eastern crude, buying at least 26 million barrels for July and August delivery from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq, the Financial Times reports. 

The price cuts come as Gulf producers ramp up exports through the Strait of Hormuz following an interim U.S.-Iran deal, which has swollen regional supplies.

Still, an LNG tanker owned by Qatar’s state shipping company Nakilat was struck by a projectile, believed to be a drone or missile, near the Omani coast after exiting the Gulf waterway, sparking a fire that caused severe damage, Reuters reports.

AC Limited, the family office of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, has become a major source of capital for private equity, hedge funds and corporate deals while managing assets believed to be worth tens of billions of dollars.

The firm has invested in companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and McLaren, while backing funds and transactions involving Blackstone, Carlyle, Ardian and Hayfin, Bloomberg reports.

The report said AC Limited’s role in most of those investments had not previously been disclosed, with people familiar with the firm describing it as one of the world’s most influential family offices despite its intentionally low public profile.

A sparse one-page website omits any reference to its royal ownership, executives or investments, and executives seeking capital are warned not to ask whose money the firm manages.