REAL ESTATE-

Ladun Investment Company signed a SAR 446 mn contract with National Housing Company to build more than 400 villas in Riyadh’s Al Mashriqiya, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. Work on the project, which will cover around 100.4k sqm, is expected to begin in 2026 once final designs are completed and is set to run for 42 months.

We knew this was coming: Ladun Investment Company announced earlier this month that it was awarded the SAR 446 mn contract to develop residential villas in Al Mashriqiya with the National Housing Company.

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FINANCIAL SERVICES-

Sama dishes out licenses: The Saudi Central Bank (Sama) licensed Hotspot and Muqaranah to operate as digital brokerages for the Kingdom’s financing institutions and approved Muhlah to provide micro-finance services, raising the number of licensed fintech micro-finance firms to 11 and total licensed finance companies to 68.

Plus two to the sandbox: Sama also granted licenses to debt crowdfunding platform Manafa and Tawreed Financial Solutions to operate within its regulatory sandbox, where they will test supply chain finance services, bringing the number of sandbox participants to 25, it said in a statement.

Tabby will provide shariah-compliant credit solutions for pensioners and other beneficiaries, targeting groups that traditionally have limited access to banking services, as part of a partnership with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), Gulf Business reported yesterday. The agreement is part of GOSI’s Taqdeer program, which supports financial inclusion and digital services.

INFRASTRUCTURE-

Electrical Industries Company (EIC) secured two contracts worth nearly SAR 1.6 bn with Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) via its subsidiaries, it said in two separate disclosures to Tadawul. EIC’s subsidiary Saudi Transformers signed a SAR 1.4 bn, seven-year contract to localize and deliver extra-high voltage and high-voltage transformers and reactors to SEC. Under the contract terms, SEC is committed to executing at least 70% of the contract’s base value while retaining the option to increase it by up to 40%, potentially raising the agreement’s value to nearly SAR 2 bn.

Meanwhile, EIC subsidiaries Wescosa and Saudi Transformers Company signed a SAR 198.5 mn, 19-month contract to supply electrical distribution transformers through purchase orders issued by SEC.

ICYMI- Wescosa and Saudi Transformers signed a SAR 785.5 mn, 19-month contract with Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) last week to supply electrical distribution substations through purchase orders issued by SEC.

DEBT WATCH-

Al Ashghal Al Moysra renewed a SAR 21.4 mn, 12-month shariah-compliant credit facility from Riyad Bank, it said in a Tadawul disclosure yesterday. The company will allocate the funding to cover SAR 15 mn worth of guarantee letters and will funnel the remaining SAR 6.4 mn for capital asset purchases, along with supporting its growth plans.

M&A WATCH-

Arabia Ins. Cooperative and United Cooperative Assurance secured a non-objection from the General Authority for Competition for their potential merger, AICC said in a filing to the bourse yesterday. The potential merger is yet to be finalized and awaits approvals from shareholders, the Ins. Authority, the Capital Market Authority and the Saudi Exchange.

REFRESHER- The potential tie-up, under a non-binding MoU signed in June, would see AICC absorb UCA via a capital hike and new share issuance. UCA appointed Estidamah Capital as its financial advisor in July while AICC tapped Albilad Capital to assist in ongoing plans for the merger.

MANUFACTURING-

National Environmental Recycling (Tadweer) signed an agreement with China-based Chery Automobile to build an aluminum smelter in the Kingdom, Tadweer CEO Nasser Aldueb told Al Arabiya (watch, runtime: 3:51). The 15k sqm project will have an initial production capacity of 50k tons per year and will produce aluminum for car manufacturing.

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