#Kuwait and Egypt See Over $29 Billion Investor Demand for Dollar Bond Offers - Bloomberg

Kuwait and Egypt See Over $29 Billion Investor Demand for Dollar Bond Offers - Bloomberg

A rush of bond sales in Middle East and North Africa picked up speed on Tuesday, with Kuwait and Egypt taking advantage of investor appetite for higher dollar yields before US interest rates fall.

Kuwait is tapping the international bond market for the first time in eight years, after a long-delayed local law was approved and opened the way for a return to global debt markets. Egypt, whose high interest rates make it popular with many investors, is seeking to diversify its financing sources as it claws its way back from the worst economic crisis in a generation.

“The array of issuances comes as countries make use of a good window to issue following the resumption of the easing cycle in the US and ahead of the end-year close,” said Mohamed Abu Basha, head of macro analysis at Cairo-based investment bank EFG Hermes.

Aggregate demand for Kuwait’s three, five and 10-year notes is close to $28 billion. Price guidance points to as low as 40 basis points over US Treasuries for the shortest tranche and as high as 60 basis points for the longest.

Egypt is likely to issue $1.5 billion worth of bonds, after receiving offers of over $8.9 billion for its dollar-denominated Islamic bonds, with maturities of long three and seven years. Price guidance stands at 6.375% and around 8%, respectively.

All the information is from a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. Final terms of the deals, including the size and yield, are expected to be disclosed later on Tuesday.

Separately, Bahrain has mandated banks for dollar-denominated bonds with maturities of long eight and twelve years. Algeria is planning to raise 297 billion dinars ($2.3 billion) from the sale of Islamic bonds, a rare issuance of debt by the OPEC member, although it will be offered only to Algerian investors, Asharq TV reported.

Saudi Arabia has already raised nearly $20 billion in dollar- and euro-denominated debt this year, making it the biggest issuer among emerging markets along with Mexico, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The increase in bond sales from the Middle East comes with lower oil and gas prices widening many governments’ fiscal deficits.

Bahrain’s bonds have given investors total returns of more than 10% this year. While investors are concerned about the country’s high funding needs, they are keen to benefit from its high yields and a compression in risk spreads across most emerging markets.

Egypt’s existing Islamic bonds have lagged this year even as their emerging-market peers gain because of a weaker dollar. The country’s February 2026 sukuk have dropped 1.8%, but have given investors a total return of 6.2% due to hefty coupon payments.

Conventional dollar bonds have fared better, giving investors a 17% total return this year.

How Jared Kushner brokered the $55bn takeover of Electronic Arts #SaudiArabia

How Jared Kushner brokered the $55bn takeover of Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts has for years been coveted by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and the billionaire dealmaker Egon Durban. But it was Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner who unlocked its $55bn takeover. 

Kushner, who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka, began sketching out the largest buyout in Wall Street history earlier this year with Durban, who co-heads tech-focused private equity group Silver Lake. 

They approached EA, codenamed “Eagle” by the dealmakers, with a firm bid about a month ago. Facing a powerful group of bidders with influence stretching from Riyadh to Washington, EA’s board dug in to extract the highest possible price. 

Monday’s takeover of EA further cements a financial axis between the US president’s orbit and Washington’s most powerful ally in the Arab world. 

The $55bn buyout — backed by $36bn in equity and $20bn in JPMorgan debt — has thrust Kushner into the Wall Street spotlight. He acted as a key figure in constructing the audacious buyout. 

Kushner’s investment firm will end up owning about 5 per cent of EA, said people briefed about the matter. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will become the majority owner of the video game maker as it has signed the largest equity cheque, followed by Silver Lake, which will be a large minority shareholder, these people added. 

People involved in the transaction declined to comment beyond their public statements. 

Durban had been studying a takeover of EA for more than a decade. But it was Kushner who convinced PIF to go for the take-private bid, said people briefed on the matter. 

Kushner leveraged deep ties he built in Saudi Arabia as a top envoy during Trump’s first presidency. EA’s management also took several trips to the kingdom as the transaction progressed. Turqi Alnowaiser, PIF’s deputy governor, led the negotiations for the fund. 

The deal is a bold wager by Silver Lake, Kushner’s Affinity Partners, Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund and America’s largest bank. They are betting artificial intelligence will fuel an entertainment boom and yield major corporate cost savings by reducing production expenses for games. 

Ultimately, the takeover won the support of the kingdom’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, America’s leading banker. Insiders expect it will be backed by the US president, as he treats Riyadh as an important US ally. 

“Kushner has a personal relationship and he has deep ties in Saudi Arabia. He is very comfortable operating in the Middle East. It created a basis of trust,” said a person briefed on the talks. 

Over the past decade, the crown prince has poured billions into tech and related investments as part of his drive to diversify the nation’s economy away from oil. He earmarked $38bn for investments via PIF’s Savvy Games unit in video game companies, one of his favourite hobbies. 

PIF also holds stakes in other companies in the sector such as Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive. 

The takeover of EA, in which PIF already invested billions of dollars, underscores this effort financially and culturally, in a kingdom that until recent years banned cinemas and concerts but is now seeking to position itself as a global hub for entertainment and innovation. 

Silver Lake’s Durban had studied a takeover of EA in 2011, but a deal never materialised. He was eager to work with Kushner, whose fund Affinity Partners is backed by PIF, believing the company was misunderstood by public markets. 

EA’s video game titles such as EA Sports FC and Madden NFL will add to Silver Lake’s large bets on sporting assets, such as the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship. The firm believes AI will lead to an explosion of leisure time, fuelling growing spending on sports and entertainment. 

“These are two of the biggest investors in sport who also now own the largest gaming-focused sports business,” said a top adviser involved in the talks. 

The consortium plans to invest additional money into EA or borrow more money to fund acquisitions, said the people. The buyers could also fund large acquisitions of other gaming companies using EA’s private shares, they added. If the deal falls apart, the consortium owes EA a $1bn break fee. 

The initial pivotal moment in the months-long takeover negotiation occurred around Labor Day when the first real bid landed, said people briefed about the matter. 

“Although the first offer was below the company’s expectations, it was close enough to provide line of sight on a deal,” said a person briefed about the matter. 

EA shares have stagnated on public markets for half a decade. So its board decide to move ahead and extract as much as possible from the buyers. 

The company enlisted Goldman Sachs and elite law firm Wachtell Lipton to negotiate the financial terms, an effort code named Project Oak. 

Their task was to hold the line against Silver Lake, known on Wall Street as a tough negotiator often unwilling to cave on price. 

The consortium readied its knockout bid in mid September. They wanted a single bank to arrange the full financing, choosing JPMorgan. 

Durban made the call. JPMorgan CEO Dimon had supported Silver Lake and Michael Dell’s efforts to acquire technology group EMC Corporation a decade ago with a $50bn debt package that eventually yielded one of Wall Street’s largest windfalls. 

On September 17, Durban dialled Dimon’s office. His secretary said the boss was out of office in Washington — where CEOs now regularly spend greater amounts of time. 

Minutes later, Dimon called back. The answer was swift. JPMorgan would stand behind a $20bn financing package, one of the largest to a company that would be rated below investment grade. Dimon instructed his capital markets bankers to get it delivered in less than a week. 

“Once JPMorgan was there, we knew the deal had real momentum,” said one person involved in the process, though the final price still had to be settled. “By the last week of talks, they were confident the transaction would close,” they added. 

The buyer group will pay $210 a share, a 25 per cent premium to EA’s share price on the day before the deal when public. They will retain EA CEO Andrew Wilson, whom Durban credited on Monday with substantially growing its profits. 

While a deal of this kind could face regulatory scrutiny in Washington, several people said they expected the transaction to go through fairly easily, citing the influence of Kushner and Saudi Arabia on the White House. 

“We are in a regulatory environment that is welcoming of [Saudi Arabia]. We are not in what was the previous regime,” said a person briefed on the transaction. They said Kushner’s participation in the consortium could prove valuable if the deal were to unexpectedly hit a snag. 

Or, as another person close to the inner workings of the Trump administration put it: “What regulator is going to say no to the president’s son-in-law?”

Mideast Stocks: Gulf markets end mixed on further US rate cut hopes, falling oil

Mideast Stocks: Gulf markets end mixed on further US rate cut hopes, falling oil

Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Tuesday as lower oil prices tempered growing expectations of further U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts. Recent U.S. economic data have had traders pricing in a roughly 89% chance of a 25-basis-point reduction at the next Fed meeting in October, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Investors now await U.S. data on job openings, private payrolls, the ISM manufacturing PMI and the non-farm payrolls report on Friday for further clues on the economy's health. Monetary policy shifts in the U.S. have a significant impact on Gulf markets, where most currencies are pegged to the dollar.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index gained 0.6%, extending gains from the previous session, led by a 1.8% rise in Al Rajhi Bank and a 3.5% surge in Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company. Dar Global, the international arm of Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development, plans to build a $1 billion Trump Plaza project in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah as U.S. President Donald Trump's family business expands in the Gulf, the company said on Monday.

The Saudi market's recovery could be sustained by several factors, including the solid fundamentals of the non-oil sector, the potential for continued monetary policy easing, and the easing of foreign ownership rules, said Daniel Takieddine, Co-founder and CEO of Sky Links Capital Group.

"Conversely, uncertainty and continued volatility in oil prices at current levels remain a risk to broader market sentiment, especially if prices decline further." 

The Saudi index surged 7.5% in September 2025, marking its largest monthly gain since January 2022. However, oil giant Saudi Aramco declined 1.5%.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - fell ahead of another anticipated production increase by OPEC+ and as the resumption of oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region via Turkey reinforced market expectations of a supply surplus.

In Qatar, the index added 0.5%, with Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's biggest lender by assets, gaining 2%. 

The Abu Dhabi index finished 0.2% higher. 

Dubai's main share index dropped 0.5%, hit by a 1.9% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties. The emirate's index fell 3.7% in September, extending its monthly losses.

According to Takieddine, the Dubai market remains in a correction phase.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index finished 0.8% higher to 36,670 point, trading at it highest, with Commercial International Bank increasing 1.3%. 

The Central Bank of Egypt is expected to lower its overnight interest rates by 100 basis points on Thursday as inflation continues to abate, a Reuters poll showed.

Bond-Deal Flurry Shows Middle East’s Appeal Even as Spreads Drop - Bloomberg

Bond-Deal Flurry Shows Middle East’s Appeal Even as Spreads Drop - Bloomberg

The Middle East and North Africa are in the grips of a bond-sale fever as investors shrug off lower oil prices and razor-thin credit spreads in a hunt for yields.

The government of Kuwait is returning to international debt markets after eight years; Egypt mandated banks for dollar-denominated Islamic bonds; Algeria plans a sukuk for its nationals. Moroccan bonds rallied in the secondary market after S&P Global Ratings awarded the country the only investment grade in Africa.

All this buzz came after Abu Dhabi pulled off an unprecedented milestone last week — selling its 10-year dollar bond at a mere 18 basis points above Treasury yields. That spread was about 94% below the average risk premium for emerging markets.

Demand for the bond was driven by yield-focused, rating-sensitive local and Asian investors, resulting in the “tightest-ever 10-year tranche in all of emerging markets,” according to Fady Gendy, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Arqaam Capital Ltd. in Dubai.

The bond rush comes at an unlikely time for the region, which is home to many countries that rely on oil revenues to balance national budgets and fund infrastructure projects. Brent crude has dropped 7.6% this year, the worst showing since 2020.

But investors have also been talking about how the extra yield regional bonds offer over Treasuries has been shrinking to multiyear lows. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s measure of Mideast sovereign spread fell to 250 basis points in July, the lowest since 2006.

While Mideast spreads are narrow, they still offer a better risk-reward than some Asian borrowers and lower-rated EM peers, Gendy said. Investors continue to make decent returns from coupons and market moves, he added.

Kuwait’s return to capital markets will depend on that appeal. The OPEC member is looking to issue a bond with tranches of three, five and 10 years. That follows a decision by the cabinet in March to approve a borrowing law that had been held up for years by political wrangling.

“Kuwait will benefit from scarcity value, considering this is the first Eurobond issuance since 2017,” Gendy said.

Egypt, one of the most popular countries among carry traders, began the process to issue three-year and seven-year dollar bonds. The country has a compelling macro story, underpinned by slowing inflation, rates going lower, higher foreign reserves and a stronger currency, Gendy said. The tightening of its spreads allows the government to lock in attractive borrowing costs, he said.

Algeria, a rare issuer, has only narrow coverage among EM credit investors, but its plan to raise 297 billion dinars ($2.3 billion) from its first-ever sovereign sukuk issuance is creating a buzz. The sale will be limited to Algerian nationals.

“Bringing sovereign deals to the market that are index-eligible will help put the country on the map and provide name diversification for investors,” said Gendy.

#Kuwait Starts Its First Sale Of Dollar Bonds in Eight Years - Bloomberg

Kuwait Starts Its First Sale Of Dollar Bonds in Eight Years - Bloomberg

Investor orders for Kuwait’s first international bond sale in eight years have already topped $20 billion, underscoring strong appetite for the OPEC member’s debt.

The country is marketing tranches of three, five and 10 years that are expected to be rated A+/AA by S&P and Fitch, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. Initial price talk is around 70 basis points over US Treasuries for the shortest tranche and around 85 basis points for the longest one, the person said. Final terms on the size and spreads are expected later Tuesday.

The sovereign’s cabinet in March approved a long-delayed debt law that paved the way for its return to global markets, following years of political deadlock. The state has one outstanding dollar bond, a $4.5 billion note due 2027, which trades at a yield of about 4.3%.

Kuwait, one of the strongest credits in emerging markets, has been plugging budget deficits by drawing on its General Reserve Fund, including selling assets to the Future Generations Fund last year. Both are managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority.

The Gulf state of around 5 million people is the world’s biggest oil producer on a capita basis. It’s rated A1 by Moody’s Ratings, the same level as Japan and China.

Its debt-to-GDP ratio is less than 10%, IMF data show, though the Washington-based lender projects that figure will climb to about 25% by 2030 — still low relative to most sovereign bond issuers — as the country borrows more to cover fiscal shortfalls.

Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mizuho are managing the sale.