Search results

A fund owned by Abu Dhabi conglomerate Chimera Investments’ Lunate has acquired a 40% stake in Adnoc Oil Pipelines from private equity giants BlackRock and KKR, in a move to take overwhelming control of a strategic local asset.

UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (TBZ) controls a $1trn-plus investment empire that, mixing private and public funds, is in full expansion mode. Although now widely commented on, the structure of Tahnoun’s business empire and the identities of those individuals who work most closely with TBZ often remain opaque, as is the nature of financial links with his powerful Bani Fatima brothers.

The Saudi government is reportedly scaling back its ambitions for some vastly expensive megaprojects, such as The Line linear city in Neom, in a sign that Riyadh is still struggling to attract the amount of foreign direct investment needed to underpin Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s long-term economic reform agenda, while the UAE leads rivals in drawing in FDI.

Commerce and industry minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani has been appointed to chair Qatar’s free zones regulator, replacing Ahmed Al-Sayed who had led QFZA for more than seven years.

A deal between Abu Dhabi giant Adnoc and UK major BP to co-invest in Egyptian gas assets highlights how wealthy Gulf national oil companies are seeking lower-carbon expansion opportunities across Africa, with actors from Qatar and Kuwait also among those on the hunt.

Kuwait stands out in the region for its relatively open political system, which includes a freely-elected parliament that often clashes with a government appointed by the ruling Al-Sabahs. As a small state with vast oil wealth, it was a pioneer in establishing a sovereign wealth fund, but these days its economy lags behind its more commercially adept neighbours. The perennial stand-off between the executive and legislature often leads to policy gridlock, with neither side able to provide the bold leadership Kuwait needs to forge ahead

The Bahraini sovereign wealth fund will fold its existing agriculture assets into the new body, as part of efforts to improve food security

The merger of Abu Dhabi-listed Bayanat AI and satellite operator Yahsat to form Space42 is set to go ahead, with the UAE national security adviser holding 50% of the combined group. Another vehicle in Tahnoun Bin Zayed’s stable, Group 42, is setting up an AI investment company with Mubadala called MGX

Faisal Bin Sultan Al-Qassimi has handed the chairmanship of the bank he set up in 1975 to his son Mohammed Bin Faisal

The Alpha Dhabi investment vehicle owned by UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed has transferred three of its hotel subsidiaries to NCTH in return for shares which will give it a majority stake in the enlarged hospitality group

Two of Dubai’s larger real estate developers, Nakheel and Meydan, are being handed over to Dubai Holding, the investment group owned by the emirate’s Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum

Two former managers of PetroSaudi International, a company set up by Prince Turki Bin Abdullah, are facing bribery, money laundering and other charges over a 2009 deal with Malaysia’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which has been at the centre of a major corruption scandal for the past decade

In a further accumulation of jobs in the ruling family, President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed has named his daughter Mariam as deputy chair of the Presidential Court for National Projects while his son Theyab has a new senior role at the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes’ Affairs

Noor Bint Ali Al-Khulaif was appointed to head the EDB in mid-February, taking over from Khalid Humaidan who is now governor of Central Bank of Bahrain.

Kuwait Finance House was the target of a complex fraud attempt in which a fictitious arbitration award was presented to the High Court in London and used to secure court orders to seize almost $90m in assets.