Good morning, wonderful people. We have a ton of M&A and investment news for you this morning, from word that a unit of Sauid’s PIF is upping its stake in fintech giant e-finance to talk that Mohamed Alabbar’s Eagle Hills is looking at buying a local real estate developer.

^^ We have the rundown on those stories and more in What We’re Tracking Today and in this morning’s news well, both below.

IT’S A WRAP on our inaugural Enterprise Finance Forum. We welcomed more than 900 senior bankers, finance industry players, corporate leaders and other members of our community over the two days. All of us here at Enterprise are deeply grateful to the three groups of people who made it all possible: The fantastic leaders who joined us on stage, the sponsors and partners who made it possible, and every one of you who joined us in person at the St Regis Cairo on the Nile Corniche.

Did you miss the forum? EnterpriseAM will have coverage of every panel starting on Sunday. Our podcast team was also on hand to capture every session — each will be an episode dropping into The Enterprise Show feed on your favorite podcast player. You can catch panels from our past conferences in our feed here: Apple | Spotify.

M&A RUMOR #1- Eagle Hills eyes unnamed state-owned real estate developer? Emirati real estate tycoon Mohamed Alabbar’s Eagle Hills is reportedly in talks with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) to acquire an undisclosed real estate developer, according to Al Borsa, citing unnamed sources. The talks are still in early stages, with no offers made so far, the sources added.

Remember: Eagle Hills is looking to expand its Egypt footprint, reportedly bidding for contracts to redevelop state-owned property in downtown Cairo and moving forward with a new luxury residential development on the North Coast.

M&A RUMOR #2- CI Capital isn’t getting bought out: CI Capital has denied an EGX filing (pdf) rumorscirculating the market that it was the target of an acquisition bid by an Emirati investor.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- The three-day Cityscape real estate expo opens at the Egypt International Exhibition Center today.

#2- DMZ Cairo to kick off its annual demo day this evening at Wust el Balad’s Founders Spaces. Entrepreneurs from the University of Canada in Egypt-backed tech incubator’s Incubator Cycle 2 program and Fintech Bootcamp will take to the stage with their pitches.

#3- Election presser: We’re expecting the National Elections Authority (NEA) to lay out the timetable for the upcoming presidential election cycle when it holds a press conference today.

FYI – The electoral process must begin no later than December, 120 days before the end of the current term on 2 April, 2024. The Big Question on everyone’s minds: Will we see the timeline advanced so that we go to the polls in December?

#4- It’s Fed day : Expect the Federal Reserve to leave rates unchanged when it concludes its policy meeting this evening.

#5- It’s day 2 of the UN general debate: The leaders of Lebanon, Libya, Italy, Spain and Korea are among those who will give statements to the UN General Assembly today.

Shoukry is in the Big Apple:

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

It’s interest rate week here at home: The Central Bank of Egypt is expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it meets on Thursday, according to our customary poll of analysts. All seven of the people we spoke to don’t think the central bank will act due to easing monthly inflation and the need to retain policy space for the anticipated devaluation. A Reuters poll returned a similar forecast.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

#1- Instacart hits the Nasdaq: Grocery delivery app Instacart’s shares surged by up to 43% on its Nasdaq listing debut, putting the app’s market cap at over USD 14 bn. The firm raised USD 660 mn, potentially rekindling the IPO market for startups. (Reuters | Bloomberg | CNBC | Financial Times | Wall Street Journal | New York Times)

#2- Ukraine prez speaks at the UN: Much of the Western press is highlighting Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelebksiy’s address at the UN General Assembly yesterday, which he used to accuse Russia of committing genocide and call on non-western countries for support. (Bloomberg | New York Times | Wall Street Journal)

ALSO- First Ukrainian grain ship leaves Odessa since Russia pulled out of grain pact: A cargo ship carrying 3k tons of wheat left the Ukrainian port, Chornomorsk yesterday, making the first grain export since Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain pact that allowed safe passage to grain cargos, writes the Financial Times. The Palau-flagged vessel is heading to Israel after departing near Odesa. Another ship has docked in Chornomorsk port to load wheat going to Egypt.

MARKET WATCH-

Oil prices surpass USD 95: Global oil prices hit fresh 10-month highs yesterday as the rally fuelled by Saudi-Russia supply cuts continued. Brent prices reached USD 96 a barrel and US crude exceeded USD 91 before settling lower, continuing a near-four-month rally that has sent prices more than 30% higher.

US media is clocking the danger: The Wall Street Journal is raising the alarm this morning, warning that rising energy prices will complicate the Federal Reserve’s efforts to reduce inflation and could result in interest rates moving higher than expected.

SIGN OF THE TIMES-

#1- Even the luxury property market is feeling the squeeze: Global transactions of plush homes above the USD 10 mn mark fell by 13% in 2Q 2023 on the back of rising interest rates, according to a report by real estate consultancy Knight Frank, picked up by Bloomberg. In the year to June, sales fell more than 25% to USD 30 bn.

Get some perspective: This is still far ahead of the USD 18.6 bn of sales recorded before the pandemic in 2019.

#2-Musk direct to your brain: Tech bn’aire Elon Musk has the greenlight to start implanting chips in people’s brains after his Neuralink startup received the all-clear from an independent review board. Aspiring guinea pigs can sign up here. (Reuters)

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: Enterprise’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, and urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: Real estate developers want more sweeteners to resuscitate the sector.

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