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Finance & Banking

Hospital operator Burjeel aims to raise up to $368m from IPO

Abu Dhabi-based Burjeel Holdings set a price range of AED 2 to AED 2.45 ($0.5446 to $0.6671) a share for its initial public offering (IPO) that opened for subscription on Friday, valuing the hospital operator at $3.3 billion at the top end. The selling shareholder expects to sell more than 350 million shares, or seven […]

Venture builder launches new $200m fund in Abu Dhabi

Further, a new venture building and investment firm in Abu Dhabi, has launched a $200 million fund dedicated to co-creating ventures focused on digital assets, fintech and supply chain.  Backed by ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, Further seeks to partner with entrepreneurs as an institutional co-founder to launch and grow new ventures. […]

Venture capital firms back female business founders in MENA

Playfair Capital and Dubai-based Global Ventures have launched ‘Female Founder Office Hours’ across MENA – with 150 leading venture capital funds hosting virtual mentoring sessions for more than 400 women founders on November 10. The eighth edition of Female Founder Office Hours since it was launched in the UK in 2019 is part of a […]

Turkey mulls new regulations to prevent stock market manipulation

Turkish authorities are expected to make stock market regulatory changes within a few days to prevent market manipulation after sharp falls in prices due to margin calls on futures positions, market participants and analysts said. They said the issue was likely to be among those discussed at a meeting which President Tayyip Erdogan convened on […]

Nord Stream 1 pipeline

Berlin, Paris and Madrid unveil plans to cope with energy crunch

European governments have outlined new measures to cope with potential energy shortages this winter and improve networks so they can share power, as the war in Ukraine continues to affect gas flows from Russia. On Monday, Spain unveiled plans that could force energy-intensive industries to shut at peak demand times; France said it was preparing […]

IMF to send mission to Lebanon to discuss slow reform progress

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that a staff mission will visit Lebanon next week to discuss ways to “speed up” implementation of agreed reforms required for an IMF loan program amid deteriorating living conditions in the country. “We are looking to support Lebanon as strongly as we can. It’s a difficult situation,” […]

Something old, something new: The Quran goes NFT

In a novel merging of yesterday and tomorrow, one million people have been invited to purchase a non-fungible token (NFT) version of a rare copy of the Quran. MetaDee, a London-based digital NFT marketplace offering artworks and rare collectibles from around the world, has tokenised an exclusive handwritten Holy Quran manuscript by the personal scribe […]

Mobile Phone, Cell Phone, Electronics

Fintech fined $360,000 by Abu Dhabi regulator

The regulator of Abu Dhabi’s free zone financial centre said on Tuesday it had fined the local subsidiary of fintech firm Wise $360,000 for breaching anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) “found that Wise did not establish and maintain adequate AML systems and controls to ensure full compliance […]

Egypt budget deficit narrow to 5.6% of GDP in 2022

Egypt expects more progress on reducing its budget deficit this year and a foresees a decline in its debt ratio after currency devaluations caused it to rise last year, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told a news conference on Monday. The deficit was expected to narrow to 5.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the […]

Saudi Mecca developer converts $1.4bn debt to equity

Jabal Omar Development Company, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest listed property developers, said on Sunday it has reached an agreement with one of its debt holders to convert 5.3 billion riyals ($1.41 billion) of debt into new shares. Jabal Omar Development (JODC) said it will issue more than 225 million new shares “and in exchange […]

Quotas for funding women-led startups could address male bias

Experts have deemed the regional venture capital industry as “fundamentally biased against women” as new data shows female startups and entrepreneurs secured just 0.1 percent of the $105 million of the available Middle East funding pot last month. In a bid to equalise gender opportunities, the UAE recently mandated that all listed companies must have […]

Emaar shares rise on plan to scrap limit on foreign ownership

Emaar Properties, the developer behind the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, saw its shares soar in early trading on Thursday after its announced plans to consider removing a limit on foreign ownership. The developer’s shares rose 4.7 percent to AED6.25 ($1.70), its highest level since early May. Foreigners invest $4.2bn in UAE stocks since start […]

Gulf buy now, pay later firm Tamara says it raised $100m

Gulf buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Tamara said on Monday it raised $100 million in a second round of fundraising from investors including Sanabil Investments, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF. The series ‘B’ funding would support the Saudi-based startup to expand into new markets, and introduce new services and […]

Digital payments giant hopes for boost from UAE-Africa trade talks

Dubai-based digital payments giant Network International is hopeful that “more doors will open” for it across Africa as the UAE starts free trade deal talks on the continent. The Middle East and Africa-focused company, which generated nearly 30 percent of its revenues from Africa last year with key markets including Kenya, Egypt and South Africa, […]

Egypt’s foreign currency gap narrows to $400m in July

Egypt’s foreign currency gap narrowed to $400 million last month from $3.9 billion in February, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Gamal Negm said on Saturday. Egypt has seen billions of dollars leave its markets since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February as investors have fled emerging markets for safer havens. But […]

Turkish locals’ forex and gold holdings rise $3.77bn

Turkish locals’ forex and gold holdings rose $3.77 billion when adjusted for the parity effect to stand at $216.86 billion by August 5, data showed on Thursday, as corporates bought hard currencies. Turkish local corporates bought $4.27 billion last week, when adjusted for the parity effect, central bank data showed. Individuals sold $498 million in […]

Abu Dhabi’s IHC eyes more takeovers in India and Turkey

Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Co (IHC) expects to increase its takeover activity, including in India and Turkey, as global market turbulence has created “a buyers’ market,” its chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday. IHC, the most valuable company on the Abu Dhabi bourse with a market capitalisation of around $167 billion, is aiming for […]

Car, Automobile, Transportation

Dubai plans to raise $1bn from IPO of Salik road toll system

Dubai is planning to raise about $1 billion by selling shares in the city’s Salik road-toll collection system as early as next month, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Salik has taken out a $1.1 billion loan from Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, to pay a special dividend to the government ahead of […]

Nadine Mezher, co-founder, Sarwa

Dubai-based Sarwa is an online investing platform for young professionals.  Founded in 2017 by a team with a background in banking, finance, and communications and marketing, today the business has more than 100,000 registered users. Its technology simplifies and makes affordable the process of investing in diversified portfolios of low-cost index funds. How I go […]

Dubai crypto chief predicts a $200k Bitcoin by 2024

“It might get worse,” Vineet Budki, managing partner and CEO at Cypher Capital, told AGBI when asked: Just how bad is the crypto market crash? Yet, the UAE-based venture capital (VC) firm has been deploying millions in Bitcoin, even as cryptocurrencies suffered their most brutal collapse this year. A major sell-off in cryptocurrencies in May […]

Road, City, Town

Abu Dhabi fund leads $300m investment in China’s Taibang

China’s Taibang Biologic Group raised $300 million to finance growth in a fundraising led by sovereign wealth funds Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Singapore’s GIC, the biopharmaceutical firm said on Tuesday. Apart from Platinum Orchid, a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates’ biggest sovereign wealth fund ADIA, and GIC, new investors included state-owned China […]

Central bank, companies clash over Turkey’s new loan rules

A big Turkish business group and the central bank clashed on Friday over recent regulations covering loans, with the Istanbul Chamber of Industry’s (ISO) head saying the measures create “irredeemable” problems. Turkish authorities including the central bank and BDDK regulator have taken steps to limit loans to companies except those that are net exporters, as […]