Good morning. Business is calm in the Kingdom this morning, with little to report after a week of intense activity. Today’s issue features many updates from the real estate and IPO markets, with Sabic reportedly sounding out banks for an IPO, as well as UCIC wrapping up retail offering.

ALSO- Al Ramz Real Estate shared with us their plans for an imminent public listing during the Cairo Aqarmap summit, where we talked to real estate executives on the outlook of the real estate market. Let’s dive in.

WEATHER- Winds are still expected to stir up some duststorms across most of the Kingdom, with the Eastern Province, Najran, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, the Northern Borders, Tabuk, Madinah, and Makkah all facing the brunt of it.

Riyadh is expected to see a high of 41°C and a low of 26°C today, while Jeddah’s mercury will go as high as 42°C and as low as 29°C. Makkah will see a 44°C high and 31°C low.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

Shares of DkhounNational Trading will begin trading on the Nomu Parallel market tomorrow, according to a Tadawul statement. Dkhoun’s shares can fluctuate within a ±30% range for the first three days, after which price fluctuations will be capped at ±10% as circuit breakers take effect.

REFRESHER- The company priced its 20% stake IPO at SAR 121 per share, after the offering was 119.2% oversubscribed. The pricing would give Dkhoun a market cap of SAR 242 mn at listing and should see it raise some SAR 48.4 mn in IPO proceeds. This is a secondary share sale.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

PIF Governor raises concerns over EU sustainability regs: Yasir Al Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), slammed the EU’s upcoming sustainability regulations as “outrageous” at the FII Priority Summit in Tirana, the Saudi Gazette reports.

The framework creates potential risk that may lead to disinvestment, as the regulation’s severe penalties for non-compliance in Europe could impact a parent company’s global revenue — not just its European operations — by up to 5%, he claimed

The Swiss red flag: Al Rumayyan pointed to the PIF’s losses in Credit Suisse due to a sudden change in Swiss regulations, calling it a “big red flag.” He stated that “the Swiss regulator changed the law — 150 years of rule of law was changed overnight. And they wiped out all investors,” adding that unpredictability is the “biggest single inhibitor” for investment in Europe.

PIF’s EU commitment hinges on stability: The PIF has deployed USD 85 bn investments in the EU since 2017 and targets to raise this level to USD 170 bn by 2030. Al Rumayyan highlighted that PIF’s investments currently contribute USD 52 bn to Europe's GDP, an impact projected to double within five years.

I Squared Capital plans to invest over USD 1 bn in the Kingdom over the next three years, as part of its investment agreement with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Chairman Sadek Wahba told Al Arabiya (watch, runtime: 5:12). The investment includes capital from outside the region, particularly from Global South countries.

The agreement aims to speed up investment in infrastructure across the Middle East, particularly in transportation, electricity, water, and digital infrastructure. The agreement also seeks to link Saudi markets more closely to regional and global capital flows.

What’s next? The global infrastructure investor will begin ramping up investments in Saudi infrastructure within the next 12 months, focusing on sectors such as transportation and digital infrastructure. I Squared also plans to open a Riyadh office in 2025, as part of a broader regional expansion.

Aramco vies for Egyptian LNG import contract: Saudi Aramco submitted a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export offer to the Egyptian state-run Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas), an Egyptian government official told Asharq Business.

Aramco is on the short list alongside the UAE’s Adnoc, Algeria’s Sonatrach, and QatarEnergy, all of which have also filed submissions. Technical and financial proposals are currently under review by Egas, the official added.

Terms and conditions apply: Egypt set a pricing and payment mechanism for securing LNG supply agreements for the summer months. Egas sent the conditions to global LNG suppliers in a bid to secure direct contract offers instead of issuing public tenders — including a price cap, deferred payments, and overprice charges.

DATA POINTS-

Saudi Arabia’s digital economy was valued at over SAR 495 bn in 2024, up 6.6% y-o-y and making up 15% of GDP, the Communications and Information Technology Ministry said in its annual report (pdf). The Kingdom’s telecom and IT market grew 8% y-o-y to a record SAR 180 bn in 2024. Meanwhile, data center capacity reached 290.5 MW, up from 204 MW the year prior.

Where we stand in the rankings: The Kingdom stands sixth globally in the E-Government Development Index and fourth worldwide in the Digital Services Index, where it also ranks second among G20 nations and first in the region. Saudi Arabia also holds the top global position for both digital skills and open digital government, and is seventh globally in the E-Participation Index.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Israel launched an extensive ground operation in Gaza, following days of intense airstrikes across the territory that killed hundreds. The IDF will work on dividing the territory and forcibly moving Gazans in the coming weeks, while allowing “a basic amount of food” for the starving population to prevent a hunger crisis from developing.

Not many details have been announced on the ground offensive, framed as a way to pressure Hamas into agreeing to release captives. The attack comes after weeks of Israel shattering a fragile ceasefire in March and blocking all aid shipments, with continuous bombardment killing some 3.2k people in Gaza in the span of two months.

ALSO- Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form ofprostate cancer. The 82-year-old politician was the oldest-serving president in American history.

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