Good morning. We’re sad to see the weekend go, but happy to land in your inbox again with the latest updates.

Leading this morning’s news well: Aramco reportedly managed to raise USD 3 bn from its latest sukuk issuance, Jamjoom wrapped up its Nomu IPO which saw a strong demand, and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City launched the Tawazoun digital platform to offer residential plots at capped prices. Let’s dive in.

WEATHER- Moderate to light rain persists over Makkah, Asir, Jazan, Hail and Al Baha, along with air-borne dust on the Eastern Province and Najran. Riyadh will see temperatures peak at 41°C before cooling down to 29°C today, while Jeddah’s mercury will go as high as 38°C before cooling down to 31°C, and Makkah will see a 42°C high and 33°C low.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

#1- Wajd Life Trading Company will debut on Nomu tomorrow, according to a statement. Shares will be allowed to fluctuate within a 30% range per day, with a static band of 10%.

REFRESHER- The medical equipment supplier floated a 20% stake in a secondary offering, which was 179.34% covered. The sale raised SAR 14.3 mn in proceeds — set to finance growth and expansion plans, support operational efficiency, and strengthen its financials — giving the company a market cap of SAR 71.3 mn at listing. Shares were priced at the top of the indicative range at SAR 5.70 apiece.

#2- The Global Infrastructure Forum kicks off tomorrow at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The three-day event will bring together over 25 countries, 300 exhibitors, and 50 experts for panel discussions, workshops, and exhibitions covering technology, investment, sustainability, and urban development.

ALSO- The three-day Money 20/20 Middle East takes off tomorrow at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center. The event will feature panel discussions with local and international experts and presentations from more than 450 brands and 445 speakers. Attendees will also have the chance to network with 973 investors and participate in sessions for startups to pitch and scale up their ideas. In addition, the gathering will explore innovations in payments, AI, cloud, and digital banking.

AND- The Smart Cities Saudi Expo kicks off tomorrow at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The three-day event — which focuses on the development of intelligent urban centers — will feature panel discussions with more than 18 industry experts on smart-city products and technologies, digital infrastructure, urban mobility, governance, safety, and quality of life.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- BNPL provider Tamara is in talks to raise at least USD 1.4 bn through an asset-backed loan arranged by Goldman Sachs, with Citi and Apollo Global Management also expected to join, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people it said are familiar with the matter. The facility could increase to about USD 2.4 bn and will refinance and expand an earlier USD 150 mn Goldman Sachs facility.

ICYMI- Tamara and Tabby dominated MENA’s venture debt-backed lending in2023, securing USD 600 mn of the USD 601 mn raised by fintech players, which accounted for 79% of MENA’s total venture debt-backed lending that year.

#2- The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute plans to take its investment summit to Tokyo this year, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a spokesperson for FII. The FII Priority Asia Summit, which is organized in partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, is scheduled to run from 30 November to 1 December.

The rationale: The Kingdom is looking to expand its partnerships and investments in Asia to support economic diversification. Asian banks are already significant financiers for Saudi entities and are increasing their presence in the local market, with some establishing offices in Riyadh.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR– The flagship Future Investment Initiative (FII9) is coming back to Riyadh from October 27-30 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center (KAICC) and the Ritz-Carlton. Key discussion topics include AI, resource geopolitics, energy uncertainty, and semiconductor security.

#3- Opec fund taps banks for first sustainability issuance: The Opec Fund for International Development mandated banks for its first sustainability bond issuance, Zawya reports. The fund — a financial institution made up of Opec member countries — is rated AA+ with a stable outlook by S&P and Fitch, and will list its EUR-dominated five-year senior unsecured notes on the London Stock Exchange Main Market.

The proceeds: Net proceeds will go to the fund’s ordinary capital resources, with an equal amount going to financing and refinancing sustainable loans.

ADVISORS- The fund mandated BofA Securities, Citi, Credit Agricole CIB, and Deutsche Bank as joint leads to manage the transaction. Credit Agricole CIB is also acting as sole sustainability structuring advisor, with Sustainable Fitch providing a second opinion.

#4- The Kingdom granted Syria 1.65 mn barrels of crude oil to back the operational and financial stability of Syrian refineries, state news agency SPA reported on Thursday. The crude oil supply is granted upon an MoU signed between the Saudi Fund for Development and the Syrian Energy Ministry. The move comes shortly after Saudi companies inked six MoUs and an agreement last month with Syria’s Energy Ministry covering electricity, oil and gas, and renewables.

DATA POINTS-

The Saudi Summer program attracted over 32 mn domestic and international tourists this season, up 26% from the summer of 2024, with tourist spending growing 15% y-o-y to SAR 53.2 bn, the Tourism Ministry said on X on Thursday.

OIL WATCH-

Saudi Aramco is nudging Asian refiners to take on more barrels in October, after recently cutting prices for all crude grades, Reuters reports, citing three sources it says are familiar with the matter. The move delayed allocation of the October supply to some buyers until next week, one of the sources said.

China’s all in, with shipments set to hit 1.65 mn bbl / d — about 51 mn barrels in October, Reuters reports separately, citing trade sources. The allocations mark an increase from September’s 1.43 mn bbl / d and match August’s volumes. Chinese buyers planning to lift more Saudi barrels include Sinopec, Hengli Petrochemical, and Shenghong Petrochemical, the sources said.

ICYMI- Saudi cut official selling prices for October crude deliveries to Asia — two days after Opec+’s production surge — with Arab Light reduced by USD 1 per barrel to a USD 2.2 premium over the Oman/Dubai average. Prices for Arab Extra Light, Arab Medium, and Arab Heavy were also lowered by USD 0.9-1.0 per barrel.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) raised its forecast for global oil demand growth for this year to 740k bbl / d, up from 680k previously, according to the agency’s latest monthly oil market report. The agency left its 2026 outlook unchanged at 700k bbl / d.

The agency now expects global crude supply to rise by 2.7 mn bbl / d to 105.8 mn bbl / d this year — compared with a prior forecast of 2.5 mn bbl/d rise — and by 2.1 mn bbl /d to 107.9 mn bbl / d next year. Net Opec+ output growth from October will come in at just 40k bbl / d — well below the group’s official 137k bbl / d quota hike — due to capacity constraints among some members.

Meanwhile, Opec kept its forecast unchanged in its September oil market report (pdf). The cartel still expects global oil demand to grow by 1.3 mn bbl / d in 2025 and 1.4 mn bbl / d in 2026, with non-Opec supply expected to add 0.8 mn bbl / d in 2025 and 0.6 mn bbl / d next year. Demand for Opec+ crude is forecast at 42.5 mn bbl / d in 2025 and to 43.1 mn bbl / d in 2026.

REMEMBER- Opec+ approved a production hike for an additional 137k bbl / d from October through September 2026, fast-tracking the return of 1.65 mn bbl / d that was previously set to stay offline until end-2026. But most members are already pumping at or near capacity, leaving Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the only producers able to meaningfully increase supply.

SPORTS-

A dedicated women’s sports channel is now live: The All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and the Saudi Sports Company, launched on Friday SSC AWSN, a 24-hour women’s sports channel, according to a statement. Available on MBC Shahid, the channel debuts with the Saudi Women’s Premier League season, set for its first international broadcast. It will feature a weekly prime-time league match, along with UEFA competitions and other women’s sports.

ALSO- Riyadh will host WrestleMania 43 in 2027 as part of the Riyadh Season, marking the first time WWE’s biggest show will be held outside North America, WWE said on X on Friday. The event will be organized in collaboration with the General Entertainment Authority.

ICYMI- It was announced earlier this year that Riyadh will host the 39th WWE Royal Rumble in January 2026 as part of Riyadh Season, yet another formerly North American-exclusive event coming to Saudi Arabia.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Days after Israel’s strike in Doha strained relations with a key Gulf ally, President Donald Trump on Friday met Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in New York for a private dinner aimed at shoring up relations. The White House confirmed the closed-door dinner, which was also attended by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, but released no details of what was discussed. Almost nothing else has emerged about what went on behind closed doors. (Bloomberg | Reuters | Axios | New York Times)

ON WALL STREET- The US IPO market just had its busiest week since late 2021, with seven large-cap listings — including Klarna, the Winklevoss twins’ crypto exchange Gemini and Blackstone-backed engineering group Legence — raising over USD 4 bn. Bankers say it’s the strongest signal yet that the long-frozen listings market is thawing after “very dry years” following Trump’s April tariffs. “In addition to the relative stability requisite for a healthy IPO market, the pent-up demand … was real and almost aching,” said Marc Jaffe, managing partner at Latham & Watkins, which counseled on four of last week’s big offerings.

Investor appetite was back: Figure Technology Solutions surged 28% on debut, Black Rock Coffee Bar jumped 38%, and Via, Legence, and LB Pharma also posted gains. Klarna, which raised more than USD 1 bn, slipped back toward its USD 40 offer price on Friday after a 15% first-day pop, while Gemini raised USD 425 mn at a USD 3.5 bn valuation and at one point soared 64%. “We had three years that were very dry … so in that context, it’s really significant now that this year has seen many companies come public and be well received,” said Atomico’s Niklas Zennström. (Financial Times | Bloomberg | Reuters)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Schneider Electric’s Innovation Summit will run between 24-25 September at Hilton Residences Riyadh, bringing together over 2k participants, including government officials, diplomats, industry experts, and entrepreneurs, according to a press release (pdf). The two-day event — to be attended by investment, energy, and industry and mineral resources ministers — will highlight advances in sustainability, energy transition, digital transformation, eMobility, smart buildings, AI and data centers, and water resource management.

The three-day IFAT Saudi Arabia kicks off 26 January 2026 at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center. Organized by dmg events and the National Center for Waste Management (MWAN) as a founding partner, the new waste, water, and environmental technologies exhibition will feature over 450 exhibitors from more than 30 countries, a high-level summit, and a conference program.

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