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The UAE and Saudi Arabia are key growth markets where there is rising demand for premium cinematic experiences Imax

Imax seeks investors in its vision of growth in the Gulf

Imax Corporation, the US cinema technology giant, is in discussions with Gulf investors including sovereign wealth funds as it seeks to deepen its presence in one of its fastest-growing markets. The UAE and Saudi Arabia rank among Imax’s top 20 global markets, its popularity driven by rising demand for premium cinematic experiences. “We’re meeting various […]

Zelis' platform serves more than 750 payers, including the top five national health plans in the US

Mubadala-led group buys stake in US company Zelis

A consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company is to acquire a minority stake in Zelis, a US-based financial technology company.   The other partners are Norwest and HarbourVest. Parthenon and Bain Capital remain the majority owners in Zelis. Zelis is helping to streamline the US healthcare financial experience, which is complex and needs technology-driven solutions, […]

Massad Boulos seen with Donald Trump during an election campaign visit to Dearborn, Michigan. Boulos is father-in-law to Trump's daughter Tiffany

What Massad Boulos can do for US-Middle East trade

The rise of a Lebanese tycoon and Trump in-law to the White House suggests business links and personal ties between the US and the Middle East will be front and centre for the new administration. Incoming US President Donald Trump announced on social media on Sunday that Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of his daughter Tiffany, […]

A worker at a lithium mine. Saudi Arabia's cooperation with China could turn competitive in the race for such critical minerals

Critical minerals become a Middle East battleground

Saudi Arabia’s efforts to boost domestic processing of so-called critical minerals could redraw the mining industry’s regional and global supply chains, industry observers say. Critical minerals are defined as materials required for a country’s strategic industries where there is a risk of interruption to supply. They include lithium, for making batteries, platinum, used in fuel […]

Shoppers look at Apple electronics in a Dubai store. Its phone and laptop sales are down in the Gulf

Apple, HP and Dell lose market share in Gulf

Apple, HP and Dell are losing market share in the Gulf, analysts have told AGBI, but their weakening position appears to be due to the allure of their rivals rather than a boycott of American brands. The region’s relatively wealthy, young and tech-savvy consumers are an attractive target for makers of smartphones, tablets and computers. […]

LVA PAG golf dispute

PIF in talks to unite world golf tournaments

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is engaged in two separate series of talks to unify the main world golf tournaments, after it disrupted the sport by setting up its upstart LIV Golf tour.  The controversial launch of the LIV tour thrust Saudi Arabia and its $925 billion sovereign wealth fund into a multi-billion industry […]

Workers on an oil rig in New Mexico, US. The incoming Trump administration is giving Opec+ plenty to think about

Opec+ likely to adopt a wait-and-see strategy for 2025

Opec+ leaders have much to consider ahead of their meeting next week – little of it positive for flagging oil prices.  First, there is the prospect of a second presidential term for Donald Trump as leader of the world’s largest oil producer and exporter; second, an economic downturn in China that shows no sign of […]

The still-developing Lusail district in Doha. Real-estate sales in Qatar fell 15% between June and September year on year

Qatar’s real-estate buyers wait on lower interest rates

Consumer expectations that interest rates will continue decreasing in the coming months appear to have dented Qatar’s residential real-estate market growth in the third quarter of this year. Mortgage transactions fell 10 percent in Qatar from July to September over the previous three months, and 8.5 percent over the same period last year, according to […]

Since last year a new framework has supported foreign law firms’ creation of joint ventures with local counterparts, through acquisitions or Saudi subsidiaries

Rise in major US law firms setting up in Saudi Arabia

Attracted by the host of complex and potentially lucrative legal issues raised by Saudi Arabia’s development push, several of the largest law firms in the US are formally setting up shop in the kingdom, either directly or through mergers and acquisitions. Among those making the leap is Atlanta-based company King & Spalding. A spokesperson confirmed […]

Social media users concerned about their privacy are turning to decentralised platforms

It’s not just Elon Musk critics flocking to X rival Bluesky

Social media challenger Bluesky hit 20 million users this month, mostly by attracting people who have grown disillusioned with X and its owner Elon Musk. Bluesky has gained roughly 100,000 users a day since the US presidential election, when Musk was a full-throated supporter of Donald Trump. Its global user base reached 15 million people […]

green hydrogen

Trump’s return may alter the future of renewable energy

Adnoc’s acquisition in September of a 35 percent stake in ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen facility in Baytown, Texas, might have been a sign of things to come. The deal between the Abu Dhabi-owned oil company and the US energy major came as interest in clean hydrogen was waning in the US while rising in the Gulf. Former […]

GFH's student housing assets in the United States are 99 percent occupied

Bahrain’s GFH buys $300m US student housing assets

GFH Partners, the DIFC-based asset management arm of Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group, has acquired student housing in the United States valued at $300 million. The assets have been added to GFH Partners’ US student housing platform, which now has more than 5,500 beds and assets under management worth $900 million. The assets are 99 percent […]

Elon Musk Twitter Donald Trump Kingdom Holding

What next for Kingdom Holding’s $2bn X investment?

When Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion, he did so with the help of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding, which put up nearly $2 billion of the price, and the Qatar Investment Authority, which handed over $375 million. The investment made the Saudi company the […]

An impression of the Space Perspective balloon capsule in flight

Space Perspective favours Dubai for balloon launches

US company Space Perspective says it is in talks with Gulf countries about hosting rights to launch its high-altitude balloon flights.  The company will operate flights carrying a luxury capsule into the stratosphere to a height of around 30km. Taber MacCallum, founder and chief technology officer, said at a tourism conference in Dubai that it […]

Adani Group's Gautam Adani has been accused of bribery payments to Indian government officials, something the group strongly denies

US charges billionaire Gautam Adani in $265m bribery case

US prosecutors have indicted Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and seven others, including his nephew Sagar Adani, in connection with an alleged $265 million bribery scheme tied to India’s largest solar power project. Adani has extensive business interests in the Arabian Gulf. The indictment, unsealed in New York on Wednesday, accuses the Adanis and Vneet Jaain, […]

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO director-general, said the potential escalation of conflicts in the Middle East could lead to further increases in transport and energy costs

WTO predicts Middle East trade slowdown in 2025

Lower oil prices, the potential for conflicts to escalate and the impact of a Trump presidency are factors supporting the World Trade Organization’s prediction that trade in the Middle East will slow down in 2025, experts have said.  In its latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report, the WTO said Middle East exports will grow 5 […]