AVIATION-

Riyadh Air ordered 50 Trent XWB engines from Rolls-Royce to power the 25 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft it had recently purchased, Rolls-Royce said in a statement yesterday. The agreement also included Rolls-Royce’s TotalCare service, shifting maintenance cost and time-on-wing risks to Rolls-Royce.

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ICYMI- Riyadh Air locked in an order for 25 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft during the Paris AirShow — with a possibility of increasing the order to 50 A350-1000, while PIF-owned aircraft lessor AviLease also tapped for 10 A350F freighter jets and 30 A320neo Family aircraft with an option to expand the total purchase order to 77 jets. While the total value of the orders were not disclosed, analysts estimated it could reach up to USD 16 bn, Bloomberg reported.

DEBT WATCH-

#1- Aictec sells SAR 6 mn Sukuk: Advance International Company for Communication andInformation Technology (Aictec) closed a SAR 6 mn murabaha sukuk offering at SAR 1k apiece via Dinar Investment platform, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday.

The details: The 6k sukuk have variable maturity dates, ranging from three up to 36 months, while their annual return rates start at 12.8% for the three-month tranche and reach up to about 16% for the 36-month offering.

#2- Riyadh-based Quara Finance secured a SAR 100 mn Sharia-compliant loan from SHL Financefor three-years, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. The loan is secured by a promissory note and an assignment of receivables covering the facility with an excess of 20%. The new liquidity will be used to increase sales volume.

ICYMI- Quara Finance joined the parallel market Nomu early last year after offering an 8.8% stake.

INFRASTRUCTURE-

Tadco is getting new electrical transmission station: Tabuk Agricultural DevelopmentCompany (Tadco) contracted Saudi Electricity Company’s subsidiary National Electricity Transmission to build a 64 megavolt-ampere (MVA) electrical transmission station for its farm in Tabuk, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul on Sunday. The agreement — with an undisclosed investment ticket — runs until the project’s completion or the end of 2026.

An upgrade: Switching the farm from liquid fuels to the main electrical grid would qualify this project for the Kingdom’s Liquid Displacement Program, which aims to cap annual oil burn by over 1 mn bbl / d and usher in more gas and renewables in a bid to eliminate oil burn entirely by 2030.

MANUFACTURING-

The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) signed a partnership agreement with Invest Industrial Group, aiming to draw global institutional capital to the Kingdom and localize advanced industries, state news agency SPA reports. The cooperation will focus on heavy equipment and machinery, automation, medical devices, food, and sustainable consumer products to improve access to global supply chains for local small- and medium-sized businesses.

STARTUP WATCH-

Joa Capital participated in a USD 1.5 mn pre-seed funding for UAE-based Software Company Prop-AI, led by Plus VC and accompanied by Select Ventures, Oraseya Capital, and Plug & Play, according to a press release. Prop-AI will use the liquidity to expand regional data integration, continue developing AI tech, and strengthen partnerships with real estate developers, brokerages, and financial institutions throughout the MENA region.

About Prop-AI: Prop-AI is an AI-powered platform founded in 2023 by Ranime El Skaff (LinkedIn) and Christian Kunz (LinkedIn) to provide actionable insight and investment-grade tools to real estate investors.

CLIMATE-

Voluntary Carbon Market Company (VCMC) partnered with Neom’s water and energy subsidiary Enowa to deliver some 30 mn carbon credits by 2030, state news agency SPA reports. The agreement aims to back financing for climate action projects in the Global South and elsewhere through the acquisition of high-integrity carbon credits.

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