Gate Capital News Letter | Issue 768

Alternative investment manager Investcorp has closed its second North American private equity fund (NAPE Fund II) at $1.22 billion, surpassing its $1.1 billion target and attracting commitments from institutional investors across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

OpenAI is in talks with several investment funds from the United Arab Emirates, including Abu Dhabi-based MGX, as it seeks to anchor a US$30 billion funding round for the ChatGPT maker, according to people familiar with the matter. The UAE funds have discussed investing as much as US$10 billion combined, with the investors expected to form a syndicate for the round, one of the people said.

Nofoth Food Products Co. said that the legal procedures related to its acquisition of a 65% stake in Plenty Food Co. LLC were completed on Oct. 5.

This includes the transfer and registration of ownership of the acquired stake in its name, in accordance with the share purchase agreement, according to a statement to Tadawul today, Oct. 6.

DUBAI, UAE, SC Ventures, the innovation and venture-building arm of Standard Chartered, together with its joint venture partners NeoVentures by Mashreq and Lulu Financial Holdings, today announced the launch of Hal, a UAE-born B2B marketplace platform designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they manage and grow their businesses by helping them access the services and opportunities they need.

Saudi utility giant Acwa Power Company has announced that Al Morjan Two Electricity Company achieved financial close for the SAR 9.69 billion Rabigh 2 IPP Expansion Project, a combined-cycle power plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Western Province with a generation capacity of 2,313.5 MW and readiness for the construction of a carbon capture unit.

ADNOC Logistics & Services has invested $324 million in acquiring an additional three very large gas carriers (VLGCs), with delivery scheduled for the second half of 2029. The three VLGCs will add an additional 90,000 cubic metres to the Abu Dhabi energy maritime logistics company fleet.

Abu Dhabi-based alternative asset manager BlueFive Capital has made an investment in Indonesia’s PT Majoris Asset Management.

As part of the transaction, Majoris Asset Management will be rebranded as BlueFiveMajoris. Both the investment and the rebranding are subject to Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) approval, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority.

The financial details of the transaction was not disclosed.

The transaction will be undertaken through BlueFive Capital’s Shariah-compliant investment platform BlueFive786.

Mal, an Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based fintech and digital banking platform provider, raised USD230m in Seed funding. The company has not disclosed the lead backer or the names of the investors participating in this milestone transaction, nor has it released its post-money corporate valuation. Concurrently, the startup has received formal in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to establish a licensed, regulated banking institution within the country.

Saudi construction and procurement technology startup Project Suppliers has raised SAR3.75 million ($1 million) in its first Pre-Seed funding round, with participation from a group of angel investors whose identities were not disclosed.

Qatar-based agentic AI startup Aligator has raised $1.2 million (QAR4.3 million) in seed funding, led by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Next Ventures, a fund by Media City Qatar, with participation from a group of private investors.

Scatec, a Norwegian renewable energy company, has secured a three-year equity bridge loan facility worth $150 million from The Arab Energy Fund (TAEF) to support the development of two major renewable energy projects in Egypt. Financial close projects is expected before the end of the year.

Global ports operator DP World has been granted a 10-year extension to its concession to operate the multipurpose terminal at the Port of Luanda in Angola, as the company continues to expand in Africa.

The Dubai-based firm will also be investing $90 million in the next two years to upgrade infrastructure at the terminal, DP World said on Tuesday.

Beltone Asset Management, a subsidiary of Beltone Holding and Egypt’s fractional real estate investment platform Amtaar Capital have partnered to establish a multi-issuance real estate investment fund targeting total issuances of EGP 2 billion ($38 million).

Commercial International Bank (Egypt), or CIB, has signed a cornerstone investment agreement to purchase up to EGP 2bn in shares during the proposed offering and Egyptian Exchange listing of MNT Tech Holding for Financial Investments S.A.E. (MNT-Halan).

The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has acquired a new residential mortgage portfolio from Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF). The transaction marks the third portfolio acquisition deal between the two entities, SRC and BSF said in a joint statement.

NEOPAY has signed a definitive agreement to buy a 65% controlling stake in noon payments, the payments arm of e-commerce platform noon. The financial details were not disclosed. The deal still needs regulatory and antitrust approvals, among other conditions, before it can close.

Saudi AI startup Echelon has raised an undisclosed investment round from East40, RAED Ventures and Avra, alongside Ben Horowitz and other investors, as it looks to expand the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies across enterprises and government entities in Saudi Arabia.

Abu Dhabi-based Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP) has invested in Kuwait-founded COFE District (COFE Tech), a provider of intelligent procurement and commerce infrastructure for businesses. The investment was completed earlier this year, ahead of the company’s planned initial public offering (IPO), according to a statement on Wednesday.