Thursday, 20 April 2023
#Saudi Telecom to Buy United Group Towers for €1.2 Billion - Bloomberg
Saudi Telecom to Buy United Group Towers for €1.2 Billion - Bloomberg
Saudi Telecom Co. agreed to buy a portfolio of tower assets from United Group for €1.22 billion ($1.3 billion) as the carrier expands in Europe.
The state-backed firm’s Tawal infrastructure arm will pay cash for a portfolio of more than 4,800 towers in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, according to a statement Thursday. Bloomberg News reported earlier that it was nearing an agreement to buy the assets from United Group, which is backed by buyout firm BC Partners.
Tawal, which is making its first foray into Europe through the acquisition, already owns more than 16,000 towers. Middle Eastern telecom operators flush with cash have recently started stepping up their overseas investments, with Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. emerging as the biggest shareholder in Vodafone Group Plc with a roughly $4 billion stake.
“We are delighted to have successfully crystallized the value of our tower assets in a deal that enables us to delever and navigate global macroeconomic pressures,” United Group Chief Executive Officer Victoriya Boklag said in the statement.
Acquisitions of digital infrastructure assets have been heating up in Europe. Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom AG both agreed to sell multibillion-dollar stakes in their tower businesses to investment firms last year, while Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. reached a deal this month to acquire data center operator Data4.
After news of the United Group divestment, the company’s euro bonds due 2026 rose the most since they were first issued. They gained 6 cents on the euro to 85 cents, according to CBBT pricing compiled by Bloomberg, and the company’s other bonds also advanced.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised United Group on the transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
Saudi Telecom Co. agreed to buy a portfolio of tower assets from United Group for €1.22 billion ($1.3 billion) as the carrier expands in Europe.
The state-backed firm’s Tawal infrastructure arm will pay cash for a portfolio of more than 4,800 towers in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, according to a statement Thursday. Bloomberg News reported earlier that it was nearing an agreement to buy the assets from United Group, which is backed by buyout firm BC Partners.
Tawal, which is making its first foray into Europe through the acquisition, already owns more than 16,000 towers. Middle Eastern telecom operators flush with cash have recently started stepping up their overseas investments, with Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. emerging as the biggest shareholder in Vodafone Group Plc with a roughly $4 billion stake.
“We are delighted to have successfully crystallized the value of our tower assets in a deal that enables us to delever and navigate global macroeconomic pressures,” United Group Chief Executive Officer Victoriya Boklag said in the statement.
Acquisitions of digital infrastructure assets have been heating up in Europe. Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom AG both agreed to sell multibillion-dollar stakes in their tower businesses to investment firms last year, while Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. reached a deal this month to acquire data center operator Data4.
After news of the United Group divestment, the company’s euro bonds due 2026 rose the most since they were first issued. They gained 6 cents on the euro to 85 cents, according to CBBT pricing compiled by Bloomberg, and the company’s other bonds also advanced.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised United Group on the transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
What Are #SaudiArabia’s Investments? Sanabil Reveals Tiger Global, Founders Fund - Bloomberg
What Are Saudi Arabia’s Investments? Sanabil Reveals Tiger Global, Founders Fund - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia’s portfolio of venture investments includes Tiger Global Management and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, recent updates to its website show.
The firms are among the roughly 50 venture capital and growth funds that Saudi Arabia’s Sanabil Investments, the venture arm of its $620 billion Public Investment Fund, has begun publishing online. It’s rare for limited partners — the investors in VC funds — to make their positions public.
The disclosure began earlier this month with about 40 firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, ICONIQ Capital and KKR & Co., which was first reported by The Information.
Tiger Global and Founders Fund were added in the following weeks, along with Haun Ventures and Viking Global Investors, based on a historical analysis of the fund’s website. The Sanabil website also now links to Sequoia Capital.
Saudi Arabia’s portfolio of venture investments includes Tiger Global Management and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, recent updates to its website show.
The firms are among the roughly 50 venture capital and growth funds that Saudi Arabia’s Sanabil Investments, the venture arm of its $620 billion Public Investment Fund, has begun publishing online. It’s rare for limited partners — the investors in VC funds — to make their positions public.
The disclosure began earlier this month with about 40 firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, ICONIQ Capital and KKR & Co., which was first reported by The Information.
Tiger Global and Founders Fund were added in the following weeks, along with Haun Ventures and Viking Global Investors, based on a historical analysis of the fund’s website. The Sanabil website also now links to Sequoia Capital.
Kuwaiti shares up ahead of #Eid break; #Qatar falls | Reuters
Kuwaiti shares up ahead of Eid break; Qatar falls | Reuters
Kuwait's stock market (.BKP) rose on Thursday as most Gulf bourses were closed for Eid-al-fitr, while the Qatari index (.QSI) retreated.
In Bahrain, the index (.BAX) concluded 0.1% higher.
Kuwait's stock market (.BKP) rose on Thursday as most Gulf bourses were closed for Eid-al-fitr, while the Qatari index (.QSI) retreated.
In Bahrain, the index (.BAX) concluded 0.1% higher.
Mohammed Alardhi: the fighter pilot on taking the controls at Investcorp | Financial Times
Mohammed Alardhi: the fighter pilot on taking the controls at Investcorp | Financial Times
If you have flown a ground-hugging fighter jet at 450 knots, where the consequences of a mistake are starkly binary, most other decisions must seem mundane.
If you have flown a ground-hugging fighter jet at 450 knots, where the consequences of a mistake are starkly binary, most other decisions must seem mundane.
But Mohammed Alardhi, who realised his dream of becoming a pilot and rose to be chief of the Omani Air Force, sees a link between his teenage self’s need for speed and his current role as executive chair of Investcorp, the fast-growing Bahrain-based investment manager.
“The pushing of the envelope — that’s still what I try to do,” the 61-year-old says. “I don’t think it’s adventurous, because you don’t want to be adventurous in investing, but taking calculated risks, I guess, is something that is there and calculated risk is what also happened [when I was] 17, 18 years old in the air force.”
Alardhi has sat at the controls of Investcorp since 2015, elevated from the board when the group’s hyperconnected, dealmaking founder Nemir Kirdar, friend of presidents, prime ministers and royals, stepped aside. But Alardhi is not alone in the cockpit. Investcorp has a separate non-executive chair of the board and two co-chief executives, who divide day-to-day oversight of global operations between them.
Singapore's CBC, #AbuDhabi's Mubadala raise $315 mln for Hasten Biopharmaceutic | Reuters
Singapore's CBC, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala raise $315 mln for Hasten Biopharmaceutic | Reuters
Singapore-based healthcare investment firm CBC Group said on Thursday that it and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Co completed a $315 million fundraising round for Hasten Biopharmaceutic Co Ltd.
The proceeds will be used to fund future acquisitions and business development of pipeline assets, CBC said.
Singapore-based healthcare investment firm CBC Group said on Thursday that it and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Co completed a $315 million fundraising round for Hasten Biopharmaceutic Co Ltd.
The proceeds will be used to fund future acquisitions and business development of pipeline assets, CBC said.