Friday 1 March 2024

Mubadala Capital to Revive Plans for Rival Exchange in Brazil - Bloomberg

Mubadala Capital to Revive Plans for Rival Exchange in Brazil - Bloomberg

Mubadala Capital, the wholly owned unit of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, is planning to launch a stock exchange in Brazil to rival the B3 bourse through a company it acquired last year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Americas Trading Group SA, which provides technological solutions for electronic trading, plans to create the exchange in 2025 to be headquartered in Sao Paulo. The idea is to fuel competition that could lead to a drop in costs for companies to list and for trading in the country, the person said, asking not to be named since the plans are still being discussed privately.

Mubadala Capital bought ATG in February 2023 and later named Claudio Pracownik as the new chief executive officer. At the time, Mubadala said in a statement that it planned to help further develop regional capital markets and to scale ATG’s business including enabling greater access to brokers, institutional investors and asset managers with new technologies.

Back in 2013, ATG filed a request to open an exchange as part of a joint venture with NYSE Group that was called ATS, but the plans never materialized. Some years later, Arthur Machado, the CEO of ATG at the time, was detained in a graft probe involving currency transactions with pension funds.

Mubadala’s plans to revive the plan to launch the exchange were reported earlier Friday by O Globo newspaper.

Mubadala Capital, which manages more than $20 billion, has raised two Brazil opportunities funds with commitments totaling more than $1 billion, according to its website. The firm, which has an office in Rio de Janeiro, has been in Brazil since 2012 and has invested more than $5 billion in the country.

ADQ Said to Explore Etihad Listing in First for Gulf Hub Carrier - Bloomberg

ADQ Said to Explore Etihad Listing in First for Gulf Hub Carrier - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi’s ADQ is considering a listing for Etihad Airways PJSC, potentially making it the first of the Gulf’s major hub carriers to become publicly-traded, according to people familiar with the matter.

The wealth fund has held discussions with banks about a possible deal as soon as this year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. ADQ has been evaluating whether to pursue a traditional IPO as well as a direct listing, the people added.

Deliberations are ongoing and details such as the size and timing of any listing are still undecided.

Spokespeople for ADQ and the airline declined to comment.

Mideast Stocks: #UAE markets advance as oil prices gain

Mideast Stocks: UAE markets advance as oil prices gain

Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates advanced on Friday, tracking rising crude prices, as investors awaited an OPEC+ decision on supply agreements for the second quarter. Increasing possibilities of the Saudi-led OPEC+ extending its supply cuts beyond the first quarter, possibly until the end of 2024, is expected to maintain oil prices at or above $80 per barrel.

Oil price - a key contributor to the Gulf's economies - surged 1.18% to $82.88 a barrel by 1052 GMT. Dubai's main index advanced 1.1%, reaching a more than 9-year high, buoyed by a 2.1% increase in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 4.6% surge in business park operator Tecom Group.

On Thursday, Dubai developer Emaar Properties launched two new projects, The Heights Country Club in Dubai and Grand Club Resort, with a development value of 96 billion dirhams ($26.14 billion). However, Dubai's largest lender, Emirates NBD Bank slipped 5.7%, which capped the gains in the index.

Dubai index notched up 3.1% on a weekly basis, its highest weekly gain since last November, according to LSEG data. Abu Dhabi's benchmark index rose 0.3%, helped by a 2.6% rise in IHC-owned investment firm Multiply Group and a 2.9% increase in Adnoc Distribution.

Among the gainers, Petrochemical maker Borouge jumped 2.9% after UAE's ADNOC closed the acquisition of a 24.9% stake in Austria's OMV . Last July, ADNOC entered into talks to merge petrochemicals group Borealis - owned by OMV and ADNOC - and Abu Dhabi-listed Borouge, owned by ADNOC and Borealis. "

Abu Dhabi market could rebound if geopolitical conditions improve and oil prices climb above their January peak," said George Khoury, Global Head of Education and Research at CFI.

Shuaa Capital board member, head of private markets resign

Shuaa Capital board member, head of private markets resign

SHUAA Capital PSC has seen the resignation of its head of private markets and a veteran banker board member in a week when its share price fell to historic lows.

The investment bank announced late Thursday that board member Andre Sayegh, who is also chairman of Abu Dhabi-listed Multiply Group and former CEO of the UAE’s largest lender FAB, had resigned for personal reasons.

The resignation of head of private markets Ajit Joshi was announced Wednesday, also for personal reasons, as Shuaa’s share price dipped below AED 0.13 ($0.035) according to LSEG data.

Joshi will remain in post for one month to ensure continuity of business, Shuaa said in a statement to Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

The stock went into freefall this week, hitting the 10% fluctuation limit, falling lower than its April 2020 price when stock markets around the world were choked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The resignations come as Shuaa has in the midst of restructuring under former Credit Suisse banker Wafik Ben Mansour, who was appointed CEO in November, with the deadline for an extended $150 million bond repayment due to refinancing at the end of this month.

#UAE's ADNOC acquires 24.9% stake in Austria’s OMV

UAE's ADNOC acquires 24.9% stake in Austria’s OMV

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has closed the acquisition of a nearly 25% stake in Austrian energy company OMV from Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala).

The deal, of undisclosed value, has increased the oil giant’s shareholdings in European petrochemicals maker Borealis AG and petrochemicals company Borouge, according to a statement on Thursday.

The acquisition is part of ADNOC’s efforts to accelerate its international chemicals growth strategy.

Following the transaction, ADNOC now owns 24.9% of OMV, while Austrian independent holding firm Österreichische Beteiligungs AG (ÖBAG) holds 31.5%, with the remaining share capital in free float.

“This transaction marks the next transformative step as we accelerate our ambitious chemicals growth strategy,” said Khaled Salmeen, Executive Director, Downstream Industry, Marketing & Trading at ADNOC.

ADNOC also said it will continue its negotiations with OMV about the potential creation of a new combined petrochemicals holding entity through the proposed merger of their shareholdings in Borouge and Borealis.

OMV owns the majority (75%) stake in Borealis, while ADNOC holds the remaining 25%.

In July 2023, the two firms started talks regarding the merger that would establish a new chemicals entity with more than $30 billion in value.