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Mergers & acquisitions

NMDC Energy provides engineering, procurement and construction for energy giants such as Adnoc and Saudi Aramco

Shopping trip for NMDC Energy boss after blockbuster IPO

NMDC Energy is looking for merger and acquisition targets after delivering the UAE’s biggest initial public offering of 2024, its CEO has told AGBI. Ahmed Al Dhaheri said the Emirati company, which listed on the Abu Dhabi exchange on Wednesday, would announce “some M&A soon” and was focusing on expansion outside the Gulf.  He also […]

Alpha Dhabi Holding and ADQ, an Abu Dhabi sovereign fund, acquired the 15 percent stake in OCI Methanol for $375 million in February 2022

Alpha Dhabi exits 11% of OCI Global’s methanol business

Alpha Dhabi Holding, the fourth most valuable listed company in Abu Dhabi, will sell its 11 percent equity stake in OCI Global’s methanol business. The stake sale follows the acquisition of Netherlands-based OCI Methanol by Canada’s Methanex Corporation for $2 billion. OCI Methanol is indirectly owned 85 percent by OCI Global. Alpha Dhabi Holding and ADQ, an Abu […]

The deal includes UCB’s neurology and allergy portfolios in mainland China and its Zhuhai manufacturing site

Mubadala joins $680m acquisition of UCB’s Chinese business

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company and Singapore’s CBC Group have jointly acquired the neurology and allergy business of UCB, a Belgian biopharmaceutical company, for $680 million. The deal includes UCB’s neurology portfolio (Keppra, Vimpat and Neupro) and allergy portfolio (Zyrtec and Xyzal) in mainland China and its Zhuhai manufacturing site. The combined net sales for […]

Saudi insurers Liva and Malath will finalise the share-swap ratio after concluding all necessary due diligence

Merger talks begin among Saudi-listed insurers

Saudi-listed insurers Liva and Malath Cooperative Insurance have signed a non-binding agreement to study a potential merger, as consolidation in the sector continues to ramp up across the Gulf. The share-swap ratio will be finalised after concluding all necessary due diligence by the two companies. The companies will have to obtain the approvals of the […]

Spectro Alloys president Luke Palen and Emirates Global Aluminium CEO Abdulnasser Bin Kalban sign the stake acquisition deal

EGA to buy 80% of US aluminium recycler

Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE’s biggest non-oil industrial company and one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, plans to acquire an 80 percent stake in US-based Spectro Alloys Corporation. The transaction will accelerate EGA’s global expansion into aluminium recycling and help grow its business in the United States. The acquisition, subject to regulatory approvals, is […]

Paramount The Godfather An offer they can't refuse? Among the best-known films from Paramount Pictures, currently the subject of two takeover bids, is The Godfather, from 1972

Abu Dhabi-backed financier among bidders for Hollywood giant

A New York investment company backed by Abu Dhabi is part of a group that has launched a bid to take over Paramount Global, one of Hollywood’s biggest entertainment companies. The conglomerate, led by the industry veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr, a former CEO of Warner Music Group, submitted a $4.3 billion bid on Monday to […]

A Yes Bank branch in Mumbai. Emirates NBD is among bidders reportedly interested in securing a 51% stake

Emirates NBD seeks majority stake in India’s Yes Bank

Dubai’s largest lender Emirates NBD is in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in India’s Yes Bank, according to a media report. The potential acquisition comes as the state-owned State Bank of India (SBI) intends to divest its 24 percent stake in Yes Bank for $2.2 billion by the end of March, Reuters reported […]

Turkish lender Odeabank, established by Bank Audi in 2012, holds assets valued at $2.6 billion

ADQ in talks to buy Turkish lender Odeabank

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ is in discussions to buy Turkish lender Odeabank as it seeks to expand its international footprint. The fund has been engaged in talks over the past few months to buy the bank owned by Lebanon’s Bank Audi SAL, Bloomberg reported quoting informed sources.  However, the report said that no final […]

Threadneedle Street in the heart of London's financial district. Hargreaves Lansdown will delist once its sale is completed

ADIA consortium in $6.9bn deal for UK trading platform

A consortium including Abu Dhabi’s biggest sovereign wealth fund has agreed a deal to buy UK stock trading platform Hargreaves Lansdown for £5.4 billion ($6.9 billion), the London-listed company said on Friday. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) subsidiary Platinum Ivy and private equity firms CVC and Nordic Capital will buy all Hargreaves Lansdown shares, which […]

A German glass factory owned by French conglomerate Saint-Gobain. The company bought businesses in Egypt and Saudi Arabia last year

French construction major chases growth in Middle East

Saint-Gobain’s $1 billion takeover of Dubai’s Fosroc highlights the growing importance of the Middle East to the company and the construction industry, according to executives at the French conglomerate. The all-cash transaction for Fosroc, which makes construction chemicals, was agreed at the end of last month. Saint-Gobain expects the deal to close in the first […]

PIF-owned STC had offered $8.67bn for Altice Portugal, part of Altice Group founded by Patrick Drahi

Saudi telco STC ends talks to buy Altice Portugal

Saudi telecom group STC has ended talks with French-Israeli tycoon Patrick Drahi to buy Altice Portugal after a disagreement over the price.  The Public Investment Fund-owned company, which is listed on the Saudi stock market, had offered 8 billion euros ($8.67 billion) for Altice Portugal, the European country’s largest telecommunications player, Portuguese online business site […]

The London-listed contractor, John Wood Group, has granted the extension saying 'there can be no certainty that an offer will be made'

Dubai’s Sidara wins extension in John Wood Group bid

Dubai engineering and consulting company Dar Al-Handasah – known as Sidara – has been granted an extension in its quest to buy London-listed contractor John Wood Group. Sidara had proposed an offer of 230 pence sterling per share, giving Wood a valuation of £1.58 billion ($2 billion), significantly higher than the first of three bids, […]

An offtake tanker at the Santos LNG terminal in Darwin, Australia. The company also has LNG projects in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste

Adnoc and Aramco consider bids for Australia’s Santos

State-backed oil companies of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are considering bidding for Australia’s energy company, Santos, according to a media report. Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) are conducting preliminary studies on acquiring Santos, Bloomberg said, adding no bids have been finalised. Shares of Santos rose nearly 1 percent on the Australian […]

Covestro CEO Dr Markus Steilemann. The company has rejected two previous offers from Adnoc

Adnoc makes final bid for German chemicals maker

German chemical company Covestro AG has confirmed that it has started “concrete negotiations” over a $12.5 billion offer from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). Covestro said in a statement that Adnoc had offered €62 ($67) a share as a starting point for the negotiations, which are subject to the completion of due diligence. In […]

The purchase of Careem by Uber is the most high-profile startup exit in the UAE, but the number of startups successfully exiting in the emirates is increasing

Rise in startup exits a sign of UAE’s ‘market maturity’

Startup exits – when a new company sells its ownership or stock, for profit or at a loss – are rising sharply in the Gulf, which observers say is proof of a maturing ecosystem. Across the Middle East and North Africa, 43 startup exits were recorded in 2023, up from 15 in 2015, according to […]

Qatar Kazakh mobile network

Qatar company buys Kazakh mobile network for $1bn

Qatar Power International Holding has bought Kazakhstan’s largest mobile phone network. The Qatari company, a private conglomerate based in Lusail, has bought Kazakhtelecom subsidiary Mobile Telecom-Service LLP, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Kazakh government on Tuesday. Mobile Telecom-Service LLP is a joint venture between Swedish telco Tele2 and Kazakh high speed mobile internet […]

A successful bid for United Group will help Saudi Arabia's STC expand across the European telecoms sector

STC weighs bid for Dutch telecom operator

Saudi telecoms conglomerate STC Group has initiated talks to buy the Dutch telecom and pay-TV operator United Group. British private equity firm BC Partners has enlisted advisors to start the sale of United Group, Reuters reported, quoting unnamed sources. STC has begun early discussions regarding a potential transaction, the report added. A possible deal may value […]

Adnoc said it had 'no interest in continuing the process' to buy a controlling stake in Brazil's Braskem

Adnoc ends talks to buy stake in Brazilian petchem producer 

Abu Dhabi state-owned energy company Adnoc has ended talks to buy a controlling stake in Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem. “Adnoc International Limited has no interest in continuing the process of analysis and negotiations with Novonor on the potential transaction,” the São Paulo-listed company said in a bourse filing on Monday. Following the disclosure, Braskem shares dropped […]

Executives from the UAE's Edge Group and Brazil's Condor sign the stake acquisition deal

UAE’s Edge Group buys stake in tear gas manufacturer

The UAE’s state-owned defence company Edge Group has acquired 51 percent of a Brazilian company which specialises in the manufacture of non-lethal technologies (NLT) such as tear gas and rubber bullets. Condor Non-Lethal Technologies (Condor) has presence in more than 85 countries and is the world’s largest producer of tear gas and related products for […]

e& is not actively pursuing the buyout of the Dutch company United Group, said a company spokesperson

Report links e& to acquisition of $8.6bn Dutch telco

The UAE’s e&, formerly known as Etisalat, is planning to acquire Dutch telecom operator United Group BV as part of its overseas expansion strategy, according to a media report. The Abu Dhabi-listed company has been evaluating a possible purchase of United Group, Bloomberg reported, citing informed sources. Private equity firm BC Partners, the current owners […]