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Issue 875 - 24 April 2010

IRAN:Esfahanis surprise Korean bid

Subscriber

Entekhab Industrial Group in mid-April was named as the buyer for Daewoo Electronics in a deal thought to be worth some $540m. Entekhab and Swedish firm Electrolux AB on 24 March were named top bidders for Daewoo Electronics,

Iran
Subscriber

Saudi Arabia’s $17.5bn sovereign bond issue in October has been a high point for the Gulf’s fixed-income market this year. In some ways it was a sign of Gulf capital markets’ growing maturity, as well as a reflection of the large fiscal gap that governments are having to bridge. However, investor interest in other instruments has been more modest – which has encouraged regulators to become notably more innovative, with a raft of new products launched over the past couple of months.

Issue 1020 - 29 July 2016

Mubadala buys 20% of Investcorp

Subscriber

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company MDC) is to take a 20% stake in Bahrain-based investment house Investcorp. The deal is being done over two stages, with MDC taking a 9.99% stake immediately, with a further 10.01% stake following regulatory approvals. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Issue 994 - 05 June 2015

Iraq: Nineveh governor dismissed

Subscriber

Parliament’s 28 May vote to remove Nineveh governor Atheel Al-Nujaifi from office was primarily a response to his efforts to lobby the United States Congress to provide direct military aid to Sunni Arabs. Nujaifi’s Mutahidun bloc has invested substantial energy into lobbying Congress and Washington DC opinion-makers, sending multiple delegations to the US and hiring Virginia-based firm Chartwell Consultancy to assist in his efforts. According to papers filed to the US Department of Justice, Chartwell’s $100,000-a-month fee, for three months from 8 September 2014, was to be paid by Nujaifi’s personal funds.

Iraq
Subscriber

Not all the headlines are positive, with wealthy Al-Thanis involved in controversial projects in London and Paris, but domestic indicators are good, business is building in Asia and the mega funds are back in action

Qatar
Issue 854 - 30 May 2009

Project market clues to recovery

Subscriber

In the project finance market, signals have been mixed. On the one hand, the Saudi market has been through a dour time, not least in its cancellation of the $5.5bn-$6bn Ras Al-Zour independent water and power project (IWPP) as a private sector development after the original bid winner, Malaysia’s Malakoff, failed to come up with financing and decided to withdraw.

Kuwait | Saudi Arabia | Bahrain
Subscriber

Etihad Airways is offloading its stakes in two real estate developments that share its name, Etihad Plaza and Etihad Airways Centre, while taking full control of its own headquarters building, in a Dh1.2bn ($327m) deal with the local Aldar Investment Properties. Previously the three properties were owned in a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies. The deal, announced on 27 February, should be wrapped up before the end of June.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Free

Finance minister Anas Al-Saleh has denied accusations that KD3.8bn ($12.6bn) in public funds have gone missing. Members of parliament, including serial griller Awdah Al-Awdah have claimed the government spent the money without providing any records about its use. They have threatened to grill prime minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah when the next parliamentary term starts in October unless the issue is cleared up. Speaking to journalists after meeting MPs on 12 July, Al-Saleh called the allegations “baseless and untrue”. However, he acknowledged his ministry was making “ongoing efforts” to improve accounting procedures.

Kuwait
Subscriber

Iran’s Bank Mellat has won a partial victory in the Court of Appeal in London, after it decided on 10 May not to set a limit on the damages the bank can seek as a result of sanctions unlawfully imposed on it. In June 2013, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled that sanctions placed on the bank in 2009 were irrational and unlawful. Bank Mellat is pursuing $4bn of damages from the UK Treasury, mostly for loss of future income.

Iran
Subscriber

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani on 13 December endorsed the under-pressure emirate’s budget for the coming year. The 2018 budget is based on an average oil price of $45 a barrel – which is well below current market rates – and includes expenditure of QR203.2bn ($55bn) and revenues of QR175.1bn. The QR28.1bn deficit was down fractionally from the QR28.4bn overshoot for 2017.

Qatar
Issue 1042 - 04 August 2017

London tussles for Aramco IPO

Subscriber

The battle to be the lead international market for Saudi Arabian Oil Company’s proposed mega-listing is turning in the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s direction, according to a range of sources. Reuters news agency on 27 July said Saudi Aramco’s advisers had recommended the LSE for what is expected to be the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO). A controversial plan by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to create a new listing category for companies controlled by sovereign states has improved the LSE’s chances of hosting the Aramco IPO, which could be followed by other big Gulf listings, which could include Omani and Abu Dhabi oil assets.

Saudi Arabia
Subscriber

The long-running dispute over alleged fraud at The Port Fund (TPF), a Cayman Islands-registered private equity vehicle which invests in logistics projects and which is run by Kuwait-based KGL Investment (KGLI), is drawing in rival logistics firm Agility, in addition to the members of the Kuwaiti royal family. The details remain murky, but centre on claims that lawyers acting on behalf of Agility have been trying to encourage at least one investor in TPF to launch legal proceedings against the fund.

Kuwait
Subscriber

Over-production by non-Opec members – above the Opec+ group’s agreements, currently to roll over their 9.6m b/d in output cuts – could undo the good work since April that has seen crude prices rise to over $40/bbl, energy and industry minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei warned on 15 June. “We feel that unless we have another wave of the Covid-19… we will see the demand recovery at a pace that is adequate to the cut we have done as Opec+, provided other producers do not rush quickly and overproduce,” he told a webcast interview with US think tank the Atlantic Council.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Subscriber

The annual trek to Davos seems to have dropped down the agenda for some Gulf leaders in recent years, but others still dutifully make their way into the Swiss mountains for the mix of politics and business that defines the annual gathering of World Economic Forum (WEF).Iraqi prime minister Haider Al-Abadi was there for a succession of meetings, including talks with Kurdistan Regional Government PM Nigervan Barzani, in which he reiterated Baghdad’s demand for total control of Kurdistan’s borders and oil exports.

Subscriber

Marsha Lazareva seems to have gone to ground after a court convicted the Russian businesswoman and her colleague Saeed Dashti of fraud and money laundering in a complex business dispute. Lazareva was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour on 11 November, having been found guilty on two charges of fraud and money laundering involving KGL Investments (of which she was chief executive) and its logistics investment vehicle The Port Fund. She was cleared of eight other charges.

Kuwait