Flynas’ $1.1 Billion Saudi Arabia IPO Sells Out in Minutes - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia’s Flynas Co. had demand for all the shares on offer in its 4.1 billion riyals ($1.1 billion) initial public offering minutes after books opened, indicating continued demand for listings in the kingdom despite market volatility.
The low-cost carrier and some of its shareholders are selling a 30% stake — 51.26 million shares — at 76 to 80 riyals apiece apiece, according to a statement Monday. Institutional investors fully covered the order book throughout the price range, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News.
Bookbuilding for institutional investors runs until May 18. The top end of the price range implies a valuation of 13.7 billion riyals.
The IPO on the Riyadh exchange includes both newly issued shares and stock sold by existing investors — billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Co. and National Flight Services Co. Proceeds will be used to expand Flynas’ fleet and establish new operational hubs.
The deal would make Flynas the first Gulf airline to go public in almost two decades, and would precede an expected $1 billion listing of Abu Dhabi flag carrier Etihad Airways PJSC.
Several Middle Eastern firms are moving forward with IPO plans despite market volatility sparked by US trade policies. While the region is seen as relatively insulated from tariffs, prolonged low oil prices pose a key risk to growth.
A hospital operator and a packaging manufacturer have also launched new share sales in Riyadh in recent weeks, and a tech firm is set to follow suit. In Dubai, a conglomerate owned by the emirate’s ruler is planning to list a real estate investment trust amid the city’s property boom.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and BSF Capital are joint global coordinators on Flynas’ share sale. Al Rajhi Capital, ANB Capital, Citigroup Inc. and Emirates NBD are joint bookrunners.
Flynas reported revenue of $2 billion and net profit of $116 million in 2024.
Monday, 12 May 2025
After Driving Down Oil, #SaudiArabia's Prince MBS Looks for Trump Dividend - Bloomberg
After Driving Down Oil, Saudi Arabia's Prince MBS Looks for Trump Dividend - Bloomberg
Mohammed bin Salman was scheduled to have a brief meet-and-greet with Donald Trump when he visited Washington in 2017. A snowstorm delayed the next dignitary and the rising Saudi Arabian prince ended up having lunch with the new US president. Two months later, Trump arrived in Riyadh.
The de facto Saudi leader is now preparing to welcome Trump back with a grand display of pageantry as the two look to monetize their relationship. It just might not be in the way Trump had envisaged.
MBS wants to make himself the Middle East’s go-to man, while Trump has boasted of inking $1 trillion worth of investment and trade for US companies. Yet with a slump in oil prices of the kingdom’s own making, the Saudi financial dynamic has shifted: the big spender abroad is in urgent need of money at home.
The love-in with Trump this week will likely be underpinned by dozens of deals covering everything from defense and security to artificial intelligence, rare metals and transportation. MBS’s ultimate aim is to burnish his country’s image to attract investors himself and overcome the financial challenges in transforming the Saudi economy, according to people familiar with his thinking.
The immediate task is how to reconcile Trump’s desire for deals with the potential further deterioration in the Saudi budget because of oil prices falling to their lowest in more than four years.
The decision to drive prices down is ostensibly about imposing discipline on the rogue elements of the OPEC+ coalition of producers, but it also provides a benign backdrop for the visit of a president who has consistently called for cheaper oil so as to lower US pump prices and slow inflation.
Many analysts now see prices in the mid-$60s per barrel for the foreseeable future, below what Saudi Arabia needs to balance its books. The country has been forced to borrow more, with debt jumping by about $30 billion to the most on record in the first quarter.
“The Saudis are willing to kill a couple of birds with one energy policy stone: punish cheaters on quotas and potentially build some goodwill with President Trump,” said Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
While the country has shown resilience with past oil drops, the long-term gain is uncertain, according to Mogielnicki. Yet the deals with Trump could make a difference, he said. The chief executives of BlackRock Inc., Citigroup Inc., IBM Corp and a roster of other executives will be following him to Riyadh.
“It’s all going to be about the follow-through,” said Mogielnicki. “If announcements end up helping Saudi Arabia attract more US multinationals and other prominent investors to support key sectors then a positive longer-term impact becomes more likely.”
An official at the Saudi royal court deferred a request for comment from Bloomberg to the media ministry, which did not respond.
Beyond business deals and oil policy, MBS has told Trump he’s ready to help him achieve his peace-making ambitions, people with knowledge of their recent telephone conversations said.
As well as Ukraine and Gaza, that also includes other Middle East trouble spots like Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Critically, MBS wants to steer Trump away from Israeli plans to strike Iran, two people familiar with the situation said.
Saudi Arabia has been mooted as the venue for Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another world leader with whom MBS has been nurturing a closer rapport, though it’s unlikely to happen as soon as this week. In February and March, the kingdom hosted various talks involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
Convening the Ukraine peace talks is good for the kingdom, even if the financial benefits aren’t immediate, said Ali Shihabi, a Saudi political author and commentator. “It certainly enhances Saudi Arabia’s prestige and soft power in the world and regionally,” said Shihabi, who sits on the advisory board of NEOM, MBS's most ambitious project.
The US has already handed MBS a win by making Riyadh the first stop on Trump’s itinerary, which includes Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi capital is also due to be the venue for a US-Gulf Cooperation Council summit during Trump’s stay, something the Saudis see as amounting to a nod that he considers the crown prince as the region’s leader, according to people with knowledge of preparations for the trip.
There will be no shortage of razzmatazz, including a big show planned in Diriyah, the ancestral home of the ruling Al-Saud family where luxury real estate developments have risen around a restored 15th century citadel and mud houses.
Trump has said he has a “great relationship” with the oil-rich kingdom. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund invested in ventures of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and hosted its LIV Golf tournaments in resorts owned by the Trump family.
During a recent trip to Qatar and the UAE, Trump’s son Eric unveiled several real estate deals involving a Saudi company.
For Trump “everything that glitters” is in the Middle East, said Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East analyst at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. “If this is America’s golden era as Trump says, then Saudi Arabia is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” she said. “And Trump is flying over the rainbow to hear more about it.”
It’s in stark contrast to the way Trump’s dealt with US allies in Europe and others such as Canada since returning to power.
MBS believes deeper ties with the US are the gamechanger for his economic transformation, according to people with knowledge of his thinking. He sees Trump as key to giving new impetus to his Vision 2030 program and making Saudi Arabia the linchpin of a new Middle East, said the people.
Vision 2030 has been a success when it comes to important social changes such as female employment and the advent of entertainment and tourism. It’s also helped secure the right to host events like Expo 2030 and the men’s football World Cup in 2034.
But it’s struggled to attract foreign direct investment and advance megaprojects such as the crown prince’s futuristic city of NEOM in northwestern Saudi Arabia. FDI fell for a third consecutive year in 2024.
The chemistry between the 78-year-old American president and the 39-year-old Saudi prince isn’t as unlikely as it perhaps looks. They both see themselves as disruptors, albeit in different ways.
Trump is upending the entire US government apparatus as well as the world order to Make America Great Again. He’s taken on anyone he thinks is standing in his way, with sweeping tariffs sparking a global trade war and hurting the global economy.
MBS, meanwhile, has promoted Saudi national identity with his Vision 2030. He defanged the once powerful Saudi ultraconservative religious establishment, jailing many of its most prominent figures along the way.
He even went after relatives in the royal family, stripping them of their wealth and privileges to root out what he said was corruption. In late 2017, they were incarcerated in the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, the same hotel where Trump will stay and the venue for an investment summit to nail down their business deals.
“They respect and understand one another because both in a sense are trying to change the economic, political and social trajectory of their nations,” said David Rundell, former chief of mission at the US embassy in Riyadh and author of the 2021 book Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads.
Then there’s the alignment of interests. For example, Trump has sought control of Ukrainian natural resources as part of a deal to end the war with Russia. MBS is using his connection with Trump to ultimately get what he wants from America, such as greater access to US military hardware and AI technology.
In Miami in February, Trump addressed a conference hosted by the Future Investment Initiative Institute, which was set up by MBS after he launched Vision 2030. To applause and a sea of mobile phones held up to record him, Trump hailed the kingdom as “a special place with special leaders.” Trump thanked MBS for hosting the talks on Ukraine and helping him end “stupid wars.”
MBS has ushered in a “MAGA-like moment” in Saudi Arabia, said Rundell. “That gives them a link and empathy for one another.”
It’s a far cry from the outcast treatment MBS was accorded by Western powers following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in 2018.
Trump cooled on MBS, who then rarely got along with the US president that came next, Joe Biden. There was a clash over Khashoggi and oil policy, with the kingdom maintaining close ties to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and resisting pressure to ease crude prices by raising production. MBS also deepened links with China, even raising the prospect of joining the BRICS group of Global South nations, though Riyadh is yet to make that decision.
An emboldened MBS is now taking advantage of Iran’s retrenchment after its proxies in Gaza and Lebanon were significantly weakened by Israel since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. He’s deploying a mix of assertiveness and collaboration with those he has had problems with previously like Qatar, the UAE and Turkey.
When Trump pressured Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza so it can be developed into a glitzy resort, Arab leaders huddled with MBS in Riyadh in February to discuss an alternative plan.
Trump reiterated his vision for Gaza during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on April 7. Riyadh is confident, however, that the special connection between MBS and Trump may swing the US leader closer to the Arab proposals for stabilizing the Middle East post- Oct. 7, according to Saudi officials working on the dossier.
“We’re in an interregnum, a transitional period in the global and regional order, and Saudi Arabia is using all instruments and tools to put itself at an advantage, including presenting itself as a diplomatic powerhouse,” said Mohammed Alsudairi, a lecturer at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at Australian National University.
Still, there are high risks associated with the US leader’s approach and style.
The US suddenly launched fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthi militants in mid-March to compel them to end their Red Sea shipping attacks. At one point there was talk of Washington backing a ground offensive. Trump announced a ceasefire last week with the Iran-backed group, after the Saudis pushed behind the scenes for such as move.
Saudi Arabia, which forged a truce with the Yemeni militants in 2022 after fighting them for years, sees prolonged conflict as a threat to its economic plans and oil infrastructure, which have been struck by Houthi missiles and drones before.
Meanwhile, the conflict in Gaza and Israel’s actions in Syria will make it much harder for MBS to normalize of ties with the Jewish state, something Trump wants.
Netanyahu and hawkish US officials are making the argument to Trump that maximum pressure on Iran and its proxies is ultimately the only way to bring lasting peace to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and its allies are saying the time has come for diplomacy.
Saudi Arabia’s risk-averse approach is clashing with Israel’s aggressive position, said Yasmine Farouk, director of the Arabian Peninsula project at the International Crisis Group. “Riyadh can build its case with Trump and he’s willing to listen, but he’s also impatient and can change his mind if other interests are at play,” she said.
MBS must also contend with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has projected power in Iraq and Syria and is trying to nurture closer ties with Trump.
Trump’s MAGA policies may even harm the kingdom. Higher US oil and gas exports to Asia and the tariff wars that slow down the global economy, particularly China’s, may depress oil prices further and reduce demand from Saudi Arabia’s main customers.
“Trump represents a much more difficult and less institutional relationship,” said Bernard Haykel, a Princeton University professor whose biography of MBS will be published later this year. “He’s a much more problematic figure even if you have a good relationship with him.”
For now, though, MBS appears to be willing to make sacrifices to keep Trump onside. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Trump berated him and OPEC+ — the group of producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia — for not doing more to lower crude prices.
Then came a surprise oil output hike announced in early April just as Trump was unveiling his tariffs. The Saudis and OPEC+ made another such move early this month. The Saudis are likely looking to win back market share they lost to US shale producers and others when they lowered production. But the timing was also about pleasing Washington, according to Ziad Daoud, chief emerging markets economist at Bloomberg Economics.
That now poses a conundrum. Saudi Arabia needs an oil price of $113 a barrel to balance its budget when spending by both the government and the sovereign wealth fund is taken into account, according to Daoud.
“The gap between the high oil price Saudi Arabia needs and the lower price that markets are delivering is turning the kingdom from a lender to the world into a borrower,” he said. “That shift looks set to stay.”
Amid all the economic uncertainties, MBS has sought to mollify some of the groups he clamped down on in his earlier years.
A royal court committee secured the release of many people from prison since the start of the year, some of them locked up for social media posts, according to Human Rights Watch. Speaking on the crown prince’s behalf, top security official Abdulaziz Al-Howairini extended an amnesty in early March to all dissidents living abroad.
“These measures are positive steps but there’s still a long way to go,” said Abdullah Alaoudh, a Washington-based Saudi human rights advocate. His father is among the most prominent figures jailed by MBS.
While his 89-year-old father, King Salman, is still the monarch, MBS has a cult-like following among Saudi youth and those who have been able to tap into the opportunities afforded by the opening up of Saudi society.
“He’s more secure politically,” said Sultan Alamer, a Saudi academic and senior fellow at the Washington-based New Lines Institute. “His main threat is regional destabilization and, paradoxically, the potential consequences of some of Trump’s policies.”
Mohammed bin Salman was scheduled to have a brief meet-and-greet with Donald Trump when he visited Washington in 2017. A snowstorm delayed the next dignitary and the rising Saudi Arabian prince ended up having lunch with the new US president. Two months later, Trump arrived in Riyadh.
The de facto Saudi leader is now preparing to welcome Trump back with a grand display of pageantry as the two look to monetize their relationship. It just might not be in the way Trump had envisaged.
MBS wants to make himself the Middle East’s go-to man, while Trump has boasted of inking $1 trillion worth of investment and trade for US companies. Yet with a slump in oil prices of the kingdom’s own making, the Saudi financial dynamic has shifted: the big spender abroad is in urgent need of money at home.
The love-in with Trump this week will likely be underpinned by dozens of deals covering everything from defense and security to artificial intelligence, rare metals and transportation. MBS’s ultimate aim is to burnish his country’s image to attract investors himself and overcome the financial challenges in transforming the Saudi economy, according to people familiar with his thinking.
The immediate task is how to reconcile Trump’s desire for deals with the potential further deterioration in the Saudi budget because of oil prices falling to their lowest in more than four years.
The decision to drive prices down is ostensibly about imposing discipline on the rogue elements of the OPEC+ coalition of producers, but it also provides a benign backdrop for the visit of a president who has consistently called for cheaper oil so as to lower US pump prices and slow inflation.
Many analysts now see prices in the mid-$60s per barrel for the foreseeable future, below what Saudi Arabia needs to balance its books. The country has been forced to borrow more, with debt jumping by about $30 billion to the most on record in the first quarter.
“The Saudis are willing to kill a couple of birds with one energy policy stone: punish cheaters on quotas and potentially build some goodwill with President Trump,” said Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
While the country has shown resilience with past oil drops, the long-term gain is uncertain, according to Mogielnicki. Yet the deals with Trump could make a difference, he said. The chief executives of BlackRock Inc., Citigroup Inc., IBM Corp and a roster of other executives will be following him to Riyadh.
“It’s all going to be about the follow-through,” said Mogielnicki. “If announcements end up helping Saudi Arabia attract more US multinationals and other prominent investors to support key sectors then a positive longer-term impact becomes more likely.”
An official at the Saudi royal court deferred a request for comment from Bloomberg to the media ministry, which did not respond.
Beyond business deals and oil policy, MBS has told Trump he’s ready to help him achieve his peace-making ambitions, people with knowledge of their recent telephone conversations said.
As well as Ukraine and Gaza, that also includes other Middle East trouble spots like Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Critically, MBS wants to steer Trump away from Israeli plans to strike Iran, two people familiar with the situation said.
Saudi Arabia has been mooted as the venue for Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another world leader with whom MBS has been nurturing a closer rapport, though it’s unlikely to happen as soon as this week. In February and March, the kingdom hosted various talks involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
Convening the Ukraine peace talks is good for the kingdom, even if the financial benefits aren’t immediate, said Ali Shihabi, a Saudi political author and commentator. “It certainly enhances Saudi Arabia’s prestige and soft power in the world and regionally,” said Shihabi, who sits on the advisory board of NEOM, MBS's most ambitious project.
The US has already handed MBS a win by making Riyadh the first stop on Trump’s itinerary, which includes Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi capital is also due to be the venue for a US-Gulf Cooperation Council summit during Trump’s stay, something the Saudis see as amounting to a nod that he considers the crown prince as the region’s leader, according to people with knowledge of preparations for the trip.
There will be no shortage of razzmatazz, including a big show planned in Diriyah, the ancestral home of the ruling Al-Saud family where luxury real estate developments have risen around a restored 15th century citadel and mud houses.
Trump has said he has a “great relationship” with the oil-rich kingdom. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund invested in ventures of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and hosted its LIV Golf tournaments in resorts owned by the Trump family.
During a recent trip to Qatar and the UAE, Trump’s son Eric unveiled several real estate deals involving a Saudi company.
For Trump “everything that glitters” is in the Middle East, said Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East analyst at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. “If this is America’s golden era as Trump says, then Saudi Arabia is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” she said. “And Trump is flying over the rainbow to hear more about it.”
It’s in stark contrast to the way Trump’s dealt with US allies in Europe and others such as Canada since returning to power.
MBS believes deeper ties with the US are the gamechanger for his economic transformation, according to people with knowledge of his thinking. He sees Trump as key to giving new impetus to his Vision 2030 program and making Saudi Arabia the linchpin of a new Middle East, said the people.
Vision 2030 has been a success when it comes to important social changes such as female employment and the advent of entertainment and tourism. It’s also helped secure the right to host events like Expo 2030 and the men’s football World Cup in 2034.
But it’s struggled to attract foreign direct investment and advance megaprojects such as the crown prince’s futuristic city of NEOM in northwestern Saudi Arabia. FDI fell for a third consecutive year in 2024.
The chemistry between the 78-year-old American president and the 39-year-old Saudi prince isn’t as unlikely as it perhaps looks. They both see themselves as disruptors, albeit in different ways.
Trump is upending the entire US government apparatus as well as the world order to Make America Great Again. He’s taken on anyone he thinks is standing in his way, with sweeping tariffs sparking a global trade war and hurting the global economy.
MBS, meanwhile, has promoted Saudi national identity with his Vision 2030. He defanged the once powerful Saudi ultraconservative religious establishment, jailing many of its most prominent figures along the way.
He even went after relatives in the royal family, stripping them of their wealth and privileges to root out what he said was corruption. In late 2017, they were incarcerated in the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, the same hotel where Trump will stay and the venue for an investment summit to nail down their business deals.
“They respect and understand one another because both in a sense are trying to change the economic, political and social trajectory of their nations,” said David Rundell, former chief of mission at the US embassy in Riyadh and author of the 2021 book Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads.
Then there’s the alignment of interests. For example, Trump has sought control of Ukrainian natural resources as part of a deal to end the war with Russia. MBS is using his connection with Trump to ultimately get what he wants from America, such as greater access to US military hardware and AI technology.
In Miami in February, Trump addressed a conference hosted by the Future Investment Initiative Institute, which was set up by MBS after he launched Vision 2030. To applause and a sea of mobile phones held up to record him, Trump hailed the kingdom as “a special place with special leaders.” Trump thanked MBS for hosting the talks on Ukraine and helping him end “stupid wars.”
MBS has ushered in a “MAGA-like moment” in Saudi Arabia, said Rundell. “That gives them a link and empathy for one another.”
It’s a far cry from the outcast treatment MBS was accorded by Western powers following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in 2018.
Trump cooled on MBS, who then rarely got along with the US president that came next, Joe Biden. There was a clash over Khashoggi and oil policy, with the kingdom maintaining close ties to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and resisting pressure to ease crude prices by raising production. MBS also deepened links with China, even raising the prospect of joining the BRICS group of Global South nations, though Riyadh is yet to make that decision.
An emboldened MBS is now taking advantage of Iran’s retrenchment after its proxies in Gaza and Lebanon were significantly weakened by Israel since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. He’s deploying a mix of assertiveness and collaboration with those he has had problems with previously like Qatar, the UAE and Turkey.
When Trump pressured Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza so it can be developed into a glitzy resort, Arab leaders huddled with MBS in Riyadh in February to discuss an alternative plan.
Trump reiterated his vision for Gaza during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on April 7. Riyadh is confident, however, that the special connection between MBS and Trump may swing the US leader closer to the Arab proposals for stabilizing the Middle East post- Oct. 7, according to Saudi officials working on the dossier.
“We’re in an interregnum, a transitional period in the global and regional order, and Saudi Arabia is using all instruments and tools to put itself at an advantage, including presenting itself as a diplomatic powerhouse,” said Mohammed Alsudairi, a lecturer at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at Australian National University.
Still, there are high risks associated with the US leader’s approach and style.
The US suddenly launched fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthi militants in mid-March to compel them to end their Red Sea shipping attacks. At one point there was talk of Washington backing a ground offensive. Trump announced a ceasefire last week with the Iran-backed group, after the Saudis pushed behind the scenes for such as move.
Saudi Arabia, which forged a truce with the Yemeni militants in 2022 after fighting them for years, sees prolonged conflict as a threat to its economic plans and oil infrastructure, which have been struck by Houthi missiles and drones before.
Meanwhile, the conflict in Gaza and Israel’s actions in Syria will make it much harder for MBS to normalize of ties with the Jewish state, something Trump wants.
Netanyahu and hawkish US officials are making the argument to Trump that maximum pressure on Iran and its proxies is ultimately the only way to bring lasting peace to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and its allies are saying the time has come for diplomacy.
Saudi Arabia’s risk-averse approach is clashing with Israel’s aggressive position, said Yasmine Farouk, director of the Arabian Peninsula project at the International Crisis Group. “Riyadh can build its case with Trump and he’s willing to listen, but he’s also impatient and can change his mind if other interests are at play,” she said.
MBS must also contend with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has projected power in Iraq and Syria and is trying to nurture closer ties with Trump.
Trump’s MAGA policies may even harm the kingdom. Higher US oil and gas exports to Asia and the tariff wars that slow down the global economy, particularly China’s, may depress oil prices further and reduce demand from Saudi Arabia’s main customers.
“Trump represents a much more difficult and less institutional relationship,” said Bernard Haykel, a Princeton University professor whose biography of MBS will be published later this year. “He’s a much more problematic figure even if you have a good relationship with him.”
For now, though, MBS appears to be willing to make sacrifices to keep Trump onside. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Trump berated him and OPEC+ — the group of producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia — for not doing more to lower crude prices.
Then came a surprise oil output hike announced in early April just as Trump was unveiling his tariffs. The Saudis and OPEC+ made another such move early this month. The Saudis are likely looking to win back market share they lost to US shale producers and others when they lowered production. But the timing was also about pleasing Washington, according to Ziad Daoud, chief emerging markets economist at Bloomberg Economics.
That now poses a conundrum. Saudi Arabia needs an oil price of $113 a barrel to balance its budget when spending by both the government and the sovereign wealth fund is taken into account, according to Daoud.
“The gap between the high oil price Saudi Arabia needs and the lower price that markets are delivering is turning the kingdom from a lender to the world into a borrower,” he said. “That shift looks set to stay.”
Amid all the economic uncertainties, MBS has sought to mollify some of the groups he clamped down on in his earlier years.
A royal court committee secured the release of many people from prison since the start of the year, some of them locked up for social media posts, according to Human Rights Watch. Speaking on the crown prince’s behalf, top security official Abdulaziz Al-Howairini extended an amnesty in early March to all dissidents living abroad.
“These measures are positive steps but there’s still a long way to go,” said Abdullah Alaoudh, a Washington-based Saudi human rights advocate. His father is among the most prominent figures jailed by MBS.
While his 89-year-old father, King Salman, is still the monarch, MBS has a cult-like following among Saudi youth and those who have been able to tap into the opportunities afforded by the opening up of Saudi society.
“He’s more secure politically,” said Sultan Alamer, a Saudi academic and senior fellow at the Washington-based New Lines Institute. “His main threat is regional destabilization and, paradoxically, the potential consequences of some of Trump’s policies.”
Gulf asset manager Amwal launches $150 million private credit fund | Reuters
Gulf asset manager Amwal launches $150 million private credit fund | Reuters
Gulf asset manager Amwal Capital Partners said on Monday it had launched a Shariah-compliant private credit fund for $150 million, targeting companies with a focus on asset-backed solutions for tech-enabled platforms.
It will also pursue direct lending opportunities, targeting 12 to 15 transactions over its five-year term, mainly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the firm said in a statement.
The fund, which already exceeded its initial close target, "has attracted leading institutional investors from the region," said Sharif Eid, partner and co-head of fixed income at Amwal.
Based in Dubai since 2016, Amwal also opened an office in Riyadh in 2023. It lists sovereign wealth funds, international institutional investors and multi-family offices, among its clients.
Gulf asset manager Amwal Capital Partners said on Monday it had launched a Shariah-compliant private credit fund for $150 million, targeting companies with a focus on asset-backed solutions for tech-enabled platforms.
It will also pursue direct lending opportunities, targeting 12 to 15 transactions over its five-year term, mainly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the firm said in a statement.
The fund, which already exceeded its initial close target, "has attracted leading institutional investors from the region," said Sharif Eid, partner and co-head of fixed income at Amwal.
Based in Dubai since 2016, Amwal also opened an office in Riyadh in 2023. It lists sovereign wealth funds, international institutional investors and multi-family offices, among its clients.
Most Gulf shares gain on US-China tariff deal; Egypt snaps losing streak | Reuters
Most Gulf shares gain on US-China tariff deal; Egypt snaps losing streak | Reuters
Gulf equities ended higher on Monday as the U.S. and China agreed to temporarily slash harsh reciprocal tariffs while U.S. President Donald Trump's planned visit to Saudi Arabia and Gulf states on Tuesday also raised investor sentiment.
The U.S. will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports in April to 30% from 145% and Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%, the two countries said on Monday following talks in Geneva. The new measures are effective for 90 days.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI), opens new tab rose 1.3%, the sharpest rise in a month with almost all sectors in the green.
Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab gained 2.2% after the world's top oil exporter reported a net profit of 97.54 billion riyals ($26.01 billion) in the first quarter on Sunday, beating a company-provided median estimate from 16 analysts of $25.36 billion.
Among other gainers, National Industrialization Co rose 1.1% after the petrochemical company posted a quarterly net profit compared to a net loss a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the United States are set to discuss a number of blockbuster economic deals during Trump's visit on Tuesday, with the U.S. poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, sources have told Reuters.
The Qatari benchmark index (.QSI), opens new tab continued its three-session winning streak and rose 0.7%, with most stocks posting gains. Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA), opens new tab, the region's largest lender, gained 2% and Qatar Electricity and Water (QEWC.QA), opens new tab (QEWC) climbed 4%, its biggest rise in more than a year.
Qatar's main electricity and desalinated water supplier, QEWC said on Monday that Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation 'Kahramaa' has signed a strategic agreement with QEWC, QatarEnergy, and Sumitomo Corporation to build the Ras Abu Fontas Independent Water and Power Facility at a cost of 13.5 billion Qatari Riyals ($3.71 billion).
Dubai's benchmark stock index (.DFMGI), opens new tab was up 0.4%, helped by a 7.3% rise in Parkin (PARKIN.DU), opens new tab and a 2.8% gain in Talabat Holding (TALABAT.DU), opens new tab. The online food ordering company Talabat reported a first-quarter net profit of $103.3 million.
The Abu Dhabi benchmark index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab edged up 0.1% with Aldar Properties (ALDAR.AD), opens new tab gaining 1% and Fertiglobe (FERTIGLB.AD), opens new tab rising 2.2%. The fertilizer producer has signed an asset sale and purchase agreement to acquire the distribution assets of Wengfu Australia Pty Ltd.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab advanced 0.5% after three consecutive sessions of losses.
Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA), opens new tab rose 1.1% and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt (ADIB.CA), opens new tab climbed 3.6%. The lender reported a 43% rise in first quarter net profit.
Gulf equities ended higher on Monday as the U.S. and China agreed to temporarily slash harsh reciprocal tariffs while U.S. President Donald Trump's planned visit to Saudi Arabia and Gulf states on Tuesday also raised investor sentiment.
The U.S. will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports in April to 30% from 145% and Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%, the two countries said on Monday following talks in Geneva. The new measures are effective for 90 days.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI), opens new tab rose 1.3%, the sharpest rise in a month with almost all sectors in the green.
Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab gained 2.2% after the world's top oil exporter reported a net profit of 97.54 billion riyals ($26.01 billion) in the first quarter on Sunday, beating a company-provided median estimate from 16 analysts of $25.36 billion.
Among other gainers, National Industrialization Co rose 1.1% after the petrochemical company posted a quarterly net profit compared to a net loss a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the United States are set to discuss a number of blockbuster economic deals during Trump's visit on Tuesday, with the U.S. poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, sources have told Reuters.
The Qatari benchmark index (.QSI), opens new tab continued its three-session winning streak and rose 0.7%, with most stocks posting gains. Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA), opens new tab, the region's largest lender, gained 2% and Qatar Electricity and Water (QEWC.QA), opens new tab (QEWC) climbed 4%, its biggest rise in more than a year.
Qatar's main electricity and desalinated water supplier, QEWC said on Monday that Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation 'Kahramaa' has signed a strategic agreement with QEWC, QatarEnergy, and Sumitomo Corporation to build the Ras Abu Fontas Independent Water and Power Facility at a cost of 13.5 billion Qatari Riyals ($3.71 billion).
Dubai's benchmark stock index (.DFMGI), opens new tab was up 0.4%, helped by a 7.3% rise in Parkin (PARKIN.DU), opens new tab and a 2.8% gain in Talabat Holding (TALABAT.DU), opens new tab. The online food ordering company Talabat reported a first-quarter net profit of $103.3 million.
The Abu Dhabi benchmark index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab edged up 0.1% with Aldar Properties (ALDAR.AD), opens new tab gaining 1% and Fertiglobe (FERTIGLB.AD), opens new tab rising 2.2%. The fertilizer producer has signed an asset sale and purchase agreement to acquire the distribution assets of Wengfu Australia Pty Ltd.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab advanced 0.5% after three consecutive sessions of losses.
Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA), opens new tab rose 1.1% and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt (ADIB.CA), opens new tab climbed 3.6%. The lender reported a 43% rise in first quarter net profit.
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