Gate Capital News Letter | Issue 766

Microsoft is planning to invest more than $10 billion across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait between now and 2030, including in cloud and AI infrastructure, a senior executive said on Wednesday.  The US tech giant is making digital resilience a key part of its strategy for the region as the Iran war rumbles on.

Microsoft’s investment reflects both its “ongoing build-out of infrastructure and also the expansion of operations in the region,” Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters.

EFG Holding has secured a $40 million, four-year term loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support financing for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Egypt.

The transaction marks the first financing facility extended directly to EFG Holding at the holding-company level and the company’s first direct funding partnership with the EBRD.

The Qatar Investment Authority is targeting a $20 billion partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co, people familiar with the matter said, months after the wealth fund inked a similar agreement with Goldman Sachs Group.

The $580 billion fund’s collaboration with JPMorgan Asset Management will span public and private markets in equities and credit, Bloomberg said quoting people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is not yet public.

Saudi Arabia accounted for about 61 percent of Middle East-based private-capital funds closed since 2015, underscoring the Kingdom’s growing role in the region’s private-markets ecosystem, according to a new analysis.

Paymob, the leading payments infrastructure service provider in the MENA region, today announced a $35 million pre-Series C funding round co-led by Mubadala Investment Company (“Mubadala”), an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”). Other participating investors included British International Investment (BII), Global Ventures, and DPI Ventures.

UAE-founded proptech Huspy has acquired Italian credit intermediary Integra Finance, marking its entry into Italy, where it plans to invest $86 million (AED315 million) as part of its strategy to build its mortgage finance and real estate business in the country. The acquisition price was not disclosed.

Saudi education technology and research enablement startup AREP (Academic Research and Educational Platform) has closed an undisclosed pre-Seed funding round led by Golden Assets Investment, as it looks to develop its technology and expand across the Saudi market.

Founded in 2023 by Hussain Alhamami, Ibrahim Asiri, Rayan Ahmed and Alhanouf Alhmammi, AREP is building technology and training products aimed at addressing skills and procurement gaps across educational and research laboratories.

The company operates through two main offerings, AREP Academy and AREP Marketplace.

An investment consortium led by US-based RedBird Capital Partners, alongside Saudi investors, entered into talks with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to acquire a stake in Al Nassr FC, Bloomberg reported, citing a source. The consortium reportedly submitted an offer to acquire a stake in the club and aims to finalize the deal by the end of the current season.

Saudi fintech startup TalMal has closed an undisclosed pre-Seed funding round with participation from MM Partners, as the company prepares to scale its salary-backed flexible purchasing platform in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi fintech Abwab.ai raised SR15 million ($4 million) in a seed round led by European venture capital firm Speedinvest as it seeks to expand its AI-powered lending infrastructure for small and medium-sized businesses.

Elsewedy Electric, a leading integrated provider of energy and infrastructure solutions across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, has announced the acquisition of a 60% majority stake in UAE based Thomassen Service, a specialised provider of gas turbine maintenance and repair services.

East Pipes Integrated Company for Industry signed a contract on Sept. 22 with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) to manufacture and supply steel pipes. The contract is valued at more than SAR 46 million, including VAT, according to the company’s statement.

Abu Dhabi-listed MAIR Group will acquire a controlling stake in the parent company of specialty coffee chain Espressolab. The UAE firm confirmed on Wednesday that it has signed a share purchase agreement to buy a 70% stake in Eslab, marking its first international acquisition since listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in 2024.

Estithmar Holding has announced the completion of the transfer of a 48.68% stake in Shahba Bank to Masaref Holding, subsidiary of Estithmar Capital, Estithmar Holding’s financial services and investments arm.

Abu Dhabi’s XRG, the investment arm of state oil giant ADNOC, is in preliminary talks to acquire a minority stake in the LNG Canada project, according to a Bloomberg report.

The firm is negotiating to buy a portion of the stake owned by PetroChina, which holds a 15% ownership in the venture, the news agency reported, quoting sources familiar with the matter.

Lendo has partnered with Vienna-based Quantic Financial Solutions GmbH for an institutional capital program of up to SAR 750 million (US$200 million).

The Austrian asset manager will fund working capital financing for small and medium enterprises across Saudi Arabia.

Universal Payment Network (UPN), owned by FinTra Holding, has launched the UPN Consortium, an open global platform bringing together payment networks, banks, financial institutions, digital wallets, remittance companies and open finance providers to help shape the network’s strategy, market priorities and cross-border payment infrastructure.

The Capital Market Authority (CMA) approved an 11% capital increase for Retal Urban Development Co. from SAR 500 million to SAR 555 million.

The CMA said the planned capital hike will be carried out through issuing 55 million ordinary shares to acquire a 47.5% stake in Ajdan Real Estate Development Co.