Saudi Arabia Pro Football League Open to Foreign Private Equity Deals - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia is considering a push to attract more outside investors to bolster its top football competition, part of a strategic revamp that’s started with an influx of star players from Europe.
The Saudi Pro League is discussing the option of new broadcast deals and partnerships with private equity companies to grow the competition’s appeal as the kingdom works to become a powerhouse in the world of professional sport, according to people familiar with the strategy.
Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion wealth fund and state oil firm Aramco last month took control of several Pro League clubs. The aim is for the new owners to build up the teams’ brands and revenues and then sell stakes to investors including global private equity companies to benefit from their expertise overseeing sports teams, one of the people said, asking not to be named because the talks are private.
Top Mideast Broadcaster MBC Group Set to Start Investor Meetings for IPO - Bloomberg
The Middle East’s biggest broadcaster, MBC Group, is planning to start meeting investors for its Riyadh initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
MBC will start meetings to gauge early demand as soon as next week, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. GIB Capital is also involved in the potential IPO, they said.
HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have also been working on the planned share sale, Bloomberg News reported in November. Representatives for MBC and GIB weren’t available for comment.
The Saudi government owns 60% of MBC and the rest is held by founder and chairman Waleed Al Ibrahim, one of the kingdom’s richest businessmen.
Saudi bourse ends three sessions of gains; Abu Dhabi rises | Reuters
Stock markets in the Gulf were volatile on Wednesday, with the Saudi index ending three session of gains as investors awaited minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting for clues on the rate outlook.
Most Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have their currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar and follow the Fed's policy moves closely, exposing the region to a direct impact from monetary tightening in the world's largest economy.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) dropped 0.2%, with Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services (4013.SE) losing 1.6%.
Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) eased 0.2%, after hitting its highest since 2015, dragged by a 2.2% fall in top lender Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU).
The Dubai bourse came under pressure after the surge of the last two days as investors moved to secure their gains, said Daniel Takieddine, CEO MENA at BDSwiss.
"While price corrections could continue to a certain extent, the strong and improving non-oil sector could support sentiment and prices toward new highs."
Business activity in the UAE's non-oil sector expanded in June as new orders rose at the fastest pace in four years, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 56.9 in June from 55.5 in May, and remained firmly above the 50 mark, which signals growth in activity.
In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) gained 0.4%.
Prices of oil, a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets, were little changed as concerns over the global economy countered supply cuts announced this week by top crude exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) fell 0.5%, dragged down by a 1% fall in top lender Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA).
Egyptian market remained under pressure, with local business conditions deteriorating as the non-oil private sector continued to retreat but at a slower pace than before, said Takieddine.
UAE Won’t Make Extra Voluntary OPEC+ Output Cuts at This Time: Al Mazrouei - Bloomberg
The United Arab Emirates won’t be making further voluntary OPEC+ oil production cuts at the present time, said the country’s energy minister.
The UAE is “doing enough” to contribute to the OPEC+ supply curbs, Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told reporters in Vienna. He noted the large difference between the nation’s current output — seen at 3.07 million barrels a day last month according to a Bloomberg survey — and its full capacity of 4 million barrels a day.
Saudi Arabia surprised the oil market last month by announcing an additional 1 million barrel-a-day production cut, on top of supply curbs the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies announced in previous months. On Monday, the kingdom extended that reduction into August and was joined by Russia, which pledged to curtail exports by 500,000 barrels a day that month.
“The voluntary cut is going to help the market,” Mazrouei said. Other countries “generously participate voluntarily to attend to the market needs. In my assessment, this is enough.”
Lackluster demand in China has capped crude near $76 a barrel, below the level that the International Monetary Fund believes Saudi Arabia and several other OPEC members need to cover its budget. The additional voluntary supply reductions announced by Riyadh and Moscow have so far done little to boost prices.
Investcorp Capital Starts Gauging Interest for $600 Million Abu Dhabi IPO - Bloomberg
Investcorp Holdings, the Middle East’s biggest alternative asset manager, is planning to start meeting investors for the $600 million initial public offering of an investment vehicle in Abu Dhabi, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Bahrain-based investor is looking to start the meetings as soon as next week, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The IPO of the vehicle — Investcorp Capital — could come as soon as September, they said.
Investcorp is working with HSBC Holdings on the potential offering, the people said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD PJSC, and Moelis & Co. have also been working on the deal, Bloomberg News reported in March.
Investcorp Capital will contain stakes in assets across private equity, real estate, credit and corporate investments, the people said. Details such as size and timing are still preliminary and subject to change, they said.
Representatives for Investcorp and HSBC declined to comment.
The deal would be the first of its kind in the Middle East, which has been in the midst of an IPO boom since late 2021. After a blockbuster 2022, listing activity has slowed this year on lower oil prices and concerns over a possible recession.
About $5.1 billion has been raised through listings in the region this year, a 64% drop from a year ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s still 45% of the year’s total volumes in all of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the data show.
Investcorp, which has backed luxury firms such as Tiffany & Co. and Gucci Ltd., delisted from the Bahrain stock exchange in 2021 after close to four decades due to low trading volumes and a desire to expand faster.
Originally established to raise money from the Gulf to invest in the US and Europe, the firm has become more global in recent years. It has offices in Beijing, Singapore, Japan and India as it seeks to expand in Asia.
Investcorp has $50 billion in assets under management and counts some of the Middle East’s wealthiest royals and business moguls as its shareholders. Its businesses include private equity, real estate, infrastructure, credit management, strategic capital and absolute return investments.
Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co. acquired a 20% stake in Investcorp in 2017.
Some Middle Eastern firms pushing IPO plans to 2024 - BofA | Reuters
Several Middle Eastern companies are planning initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2024 instead of this year, a senior Bank of America (BAC.N) executive said, amid worries of a global recession.
The global IPO market has been in the doldrums since the start of 2022 when Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a spike in inflation dampened risk appetite as investors fretted over relentless interest rate rises.
But the Middle East emerged as an IPO bright spot last year and has so far largely held its ground, with several companies listing on exchanges in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the first half.
"The pipeline is encouraging although we are not expecting a huge wave for the second half. Many situations are more focused on early or mid next year, rather than the back end of this year," said James Palmer, Bank of America's head of EMEA equity capital markets, when asked about IPOs expected for this year.
He declined to discuss specific examples.
"Very importantly, the market view of when we get to peak rates is still a dynamic assessment and is feeding the uncertainty. This is a market challenge that we need to traffic," Palmer added.
The U.S. Federal Reserve paused a 15-month hiking cycle - the most aggressive in decades - at its last policy meeting, but markets expect a fresh rate increase at the Fed's July meeting.
Some Middle Eastern issuers "feel very good about a belief in the structural shift in the region, broadly defined; that is, the commitment in the region to develop and advance the capital markets, and commitments from local entities to show financial support for them," Palmer said.
The flurry of Gulf IPOs that began last year was fuelled by state-led listing programmes in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Palmer added he believed foreign investors continue to have appetite for Middle East IPOs.
Saudi Arabia, UAE Business Conditions Improve Even as Costs Rise - Bloomberg
Business conditions Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates improved in June, even as cost pressures increased.
Accelerating demand helped the Arab world’s largest economies secure new business orders and maintain employment levels. A purchasing managers’ index for Saudi Arabia rose to 59.6 from 58.5 in May, according to Riyad Bank. A similar S&P Global survey for neighboring UAE climbed to 56.9 from 55.5.
Both gauges are way above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction. The countries are among the world’s biggest oil exporters and benefited from a surge in crude prices to more than $100 a barrel after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Saudi Arabia was the fastest-growing G20 economy in 2022.
Oil prices have since fallen as the global economy has slowed, which will probably lead to weaker growth for Saudi Arabia and the UAE this year.
Most Gulf market gain in early trade; Dubai eases | Reuters
Most major stock markets in the Gulf edged higher on Wednesday, although the gains were limited as investors await the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting for clues on the rate outlook.
The Fed minutes, due later on Wednesday, and the non-farm payrolls report on Friday are at the top of traders' agenda this week as they watch to see whether the Fed will need to hike more than once to stem inflation.
Most Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have their currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar and follow the Fed's policy moves closely, exposing the region to a direct impact from monetary tightening in the world's largest economy.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) added 0.1%, helped by a 3.2% rise in Saudi Arabian Mining Co (1211.SE). First Milling (2283.SE) advanced more than 8% after posting higher quarterly earnings.
Separately, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait exclusively own natural wealth, including the Durra gas field, in the Gulf's maritime "Divided Area", Saudi state news agency SPA said on Tuesday citing the foreign ministry.
The Qatari index (.QSI) inched 0.1% higher, with Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA), the Gulf's biggest lender, climbing 0.8%.
In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark index (.FTFADGI) added 0.2%.
Business activity in the UAE's non-oil sector expanded in June as new orders rose at the fastest pace in four years, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 56.9 in June, from 55.5 in May, and remained firmly above the 50 mark, which signals growth in activity.
Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) eased 0.3% - a day after hitting its highest since 2015 - hit by a 1.8% slide in utility Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWAA.DU).
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