Saudi’s tilt toward Silicon Valley is nearly complete. Plus: SRMG to restructure some of its holdings.

Saudi’s tilt fully toward Silicon Valley looks nearly complete as Bloomberg reports this morning that Alat, the PIF’s advanced technologies platform, would divest from China if it were asked to do so by the United States.

“So far the requests have been to keep manufacturing and supply chains completely separate, but if the partnerships with China would become a problem for the US, we will divest,” the business information service quotes Amit Midha, CEO of the USD 100 bn platform, as saying.

Two partnerships with US companies are now in the pipeline, Midha said, and could be announced by the end of the year. “The US is the number one partner for us and the number one market for AI, chips and semiconductor industry,” he said.

AND- The Biden administration has told Intel and Qualcomm to stop selling chips to Huawei that the Chinese company needs for its phones and laptops, the Financial Times reports. in an exclusive.

IN CONTEXT- The US has been on a years-long drive to contain China’s emergence as a significant technology rival. Officials in DC are asking Riyadh to agree to limit the use of some Chinese technologies as part of a pact on AI and advanced tech that the two sides hope to sign. They’re simultaneously negotiating agreements on defense and nuclear power as part of a wider process that Washington hopes will see us normalize relations with Israel.

It’s going to be a delicate balancing act: Riyadh and Beijing have been on a drive to build deeper ties. China is a critical crude oil market for Aramco, which is looking to invest more in Chinese refining capacity and petchems. The first China-based ETF of Saudi shares started trading late last year, Tadawul will host tomorrow the Hong Kong edition of its flagship capital markets conference. Gigaprojects are in play, too: Neom was on the road in China a few weeks ago and it’s courting Chinese bankers to help finance work there.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed this morning as investors sift through earnings reports, CNBC reports, while US stock futures are largely unchanged after the Dow yesterday hit its longest stint in the green since December. European equities futures were also little changed in overnight trading.

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI fell 0.1% yesterday on turnover of SAR 7 bn. The index is up 3.3% YTD.

In the green: Batic (+6.4%), DWF (+5.4%) and EIC (+5%).

In the red: Al Akaria (-7.6%), Al Baha (-7.1%) and Americana (-5.1%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC fell -0.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 25.7 mn. The index is up 9% YTD.

In the green: Enma Alrawabi (+6.9%), Al Mohafaza For Education (+4.6%) and Future Care (+3.8%).

In the red: Group Five (-4.9%), Alnaqool (-4.7%) and Ghida Alsultan (-4.5%)

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

The board of media giant Saudi Research Media Group (SRMG) approved a plan to restructure a number of its non-operating and wholly owned subsidiaries here and overseas, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The move, which it said would help streamline operations, will see it restructure 26 subsidiaries via voluntary liquidation, deregistration, or turning them into branches. This represents more than half of SRMG’s portfolio of 40 companies.

The list of subsidiaries includes Arab Media, the News Hub, Numu Media, Sayidaty Products Co, Kuwaiti Group for Publishing and Distribution Co, Moroccan Printing and Publishing Co and many others, according to a list (pdf) provided by the company.

A snapshot of SRMG’s results last year: SRMG’s net income fell 14% y-o-y to SAR 560 mnin FY 2023 on the back of losses by the Saudi Printing and Packaging Company (SPPC), of which SRMG owns a majority 70% stake. Its revenues grew 1% y-o-y to SAR 3.7 bn. It is yet to release its results for Q1 2024.