Good afternoon folks, and happy Monday. The weather may be cooling down but the presses are just heating up for the week — and we’ve got all the details for you below.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

EFG Hermes launches USD 300 mn Saudi Education Fund: Our friends at EFG Hermes are investing USD 300 mn to establish a K-12 operator in the Kingdom through their newly-launched Saudi Education Fund (SEF), according to a press release (pdf). The fund has acquired seven schools — four in the Kingdom and the rest in the UAE and Bahrain — from GFH Financial Group under the Britus Education brand. Together, the schools are equipped to serve up to 12k students, with 8k already enrolled. The new venture builds on the successes of EFG Hermes Egyptian K-12 operator Egypt Education Platform, with the firm set to “deliver exceptional educational services to our new student populations,” according to co-CEO Karim Moussa.

Beltone logs impressive growth in 9M 2024: Beltone Holding recorded EGP 1.1 bn in net income during 9M 2024, up from EGP 86 mn during the same period last year, according to its latest earnings release (pdf). Beltone’s revenues were also up 405% y-o-y during the nine-month period to record EGP 4.8 bn. “This solid financial and operational performance across all business lines is a direct result of the group’s swift and adaptable data-driven business model, its fully-fledged product offering, and its extraordinary talent,” Group CEO Dalia Khorshid said.

Palm Hills Developments (PHD) saw its bottom line rise 124% y-o-y to EGP 2.3 bn in 9M 2024, with revenues increasing 59% y-o-y to EGP 17.9 bn, the company said in a statement (pdf). The real estate company also saw sales grow 3.8x y-o-y to reach EGP 130 bn in the first nine months of the year. “We are pleased to report our best nine months results, fueled largely by strong sales in our North Coast developments. Albeit we applied a sales phasing strategy that led us receiving only 14% of demand in our Hacienda Heneish project,” Chairman Yasseen Mansour said.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Moscow turns up the diplomatic heat as Biden takes the brakes off Ukraine: The Kremlin said this morning that an official US decision to allow Ukraine to carry out limited strikes on Russian territory using US-made long-range missiles would mean “a qualitatively new round of tension and a qualitatively new situation from the point of view of US involvement in this conflict,” according to comments from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He added that official confirmation of such a decision by the US would be interpreted as direct involvement by the US and NATO, saying that these moves show that the Biden administration “intends to take steps to continue adding fuel to the fire and continue to provoke tension around this conflict.” (Financial Times, Reuters)

PLUS- Trump taps Big Tech critic, Musk fan for FCC chair: President-elect Donald Trump has given noted Big Tech skeptic and SpaceX aficionado Brendan Carr the nod for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with many expecting Carr to use the position to crack down on what he has called mainstream media’s “censorship” of right-wing views. (Washington Post, Reuters)

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• Ezdehar now fully owns Zahran Market: Private equity outfit Ezdehar Management has purchased the remaining 40% stake of supermarket chain Zahran Market, bringing its total stake up to 100%. The company did not disclose the value of the transaction.
• Qara set to expand in Saudi with newly closed funding round: Supply chain tech startup Qara has successfully closed a USD 2.6 mn funding round that will see the firm expand its operations in Saudi Arabia and further develop its platform.
• New privatization targets in the pipeline: Cabinet spokesperson Mohamed El Homsani namechecked banking, airports, pharma, plastics, glass, and petrochemicals as among the sectors where we will see stakes in state-owned entities offered up by the end of June.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Wake up to sunny mornings with highs of 24°C, dropping to a chilly low of 16°C in the evening — according to our favorite weather app.