Good morning, wonderful people. If you feel January has been going on for too long, you’re not alone. Maybe it’s the post-holiday blues: the slow pace of days following the crazy festive Christmas season, as one psychologist thinks. We’re this close to January’s last workday, anyway, so hang in there.

Leading today’s issue: Is your net worth over USD 30 mn or you have a luxury yacht? You might be in luck: the Premium Residency Program is reportedly weighing a new expansion that will target high-net-worth individuals.

Happening today

South African industrial heavyweight Barloworld is getting delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and A2X today, after a Zahid Group-led consortium completed a USD 1.3 bn take-private acquisition. The move ends the 123-year-old company’s run on the public markets.

It took persistence: After shareholders rejected an initial full buyout in late 2024, Zahid pivoted to a standby offer at ZAR 120 per share — an 87% premium to the pre-talks price. The acquisition was executed via Newco, a vehicle backed by Zahid’s Gulf Falcon Holding and Entsha, an entity linked to Barloworld CEO Dominic Sewela. Sewela’s involvement sparked backlash from minority shareholders and governance hawks, who flagged the conflict of a sitting CEO negotiating his own equity roll-over into the buying vehicle. Despite the governance noise, the consortium secured 97.6% of acceptances, allowing them to squeeze out the remaining minorities.

Why it matters: Barloworld is the sole distributor of Caterpillar equipment in Southern Africa, anchoring it to the region’s critical mining and infrastructure capex. For Zahid — already a Caterpillar heavyweight in the Middle East — this secures a dominant grip on the dealership footprint across the entire Saudi-Africa corridor.

WEATHER- Dust storms are still blowing over parts of Riyadh, the Eastern Province, Makkah, Madinah, and Najran.

  • Riyadh: 20°C high / 8°C low.
  • Jeddah: 32°C high / 23°C low.
  • Makkah: 33°C high / 22°C low.
  • Dammam: 21°C high / 10°C low.

Watch this space

DEBT — Aramco is back in the bond market: State-owned oil giant Aramco has priced its USD 4 bn in bond issuance — its first of the year to back its investments and dividend commitments, Bloomberg reports, citing a source close to the matter. The oil giant is offering four USD-denominated bonds, with maturities ranging from three to 30 years.

Strong demand = lower yields. The offering attracted over USD 22 bn at its peak, which then settled at USD 14 bn after the pricing was adjusted. The spread over US Treasuries is around 130 bps for the 30-year tranche, well below the initial price of 165 bps, Bloomberg’s source said. While the source didn’t disclose the final price for the three, five, and 10-year tranches, we can assume that they saw similar dips from their initial prices of 100 bps, 115 bps, and 125 bps, respectively.

The move comes after a relatively active funding run. Aramco tapped investors several times over the past year, most recently with a USD 3 bn sukuk in September, after a USD 5 bn conventional bond sale in May.

The oil giant formally kicked off the debt sale yesterday, under its Global Medium Term Note Program, confirming the notes will be senior unsecured and marketed to institutional investors, with a USD 200k minimum ticket, according to a bourse filing. The offering is open through 2 February, with the final size, pricing, and maturities subject to market conditions, and proceeds earmarked for general corporate purposes.

ADVISORS- Our friends at HSBC are acting as active joint bookrunners alongside Citi, Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Bank of China, BofA Securities, BSF Capital, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, Natixis, Riyad Capital, SMBC, and Standard Chartered are passive joint bookrunners.

NEOM — Details of the recalibration plan for the futuristic city keep trickling: The gigaproject reportedly created a new chief of staff division to strengthen oversight, as part of the year-long “comprehensive review” that is set to wrap up in the coming months, Semafor reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources.

Who’s at the helm? The new unit is reportedly headed by Mazen Al Furaih — previously a senior director at the PIF — and includes five senior executives tasked with tightening project governance and improving coordination with the government.

Fewer workers: The recalibration hit staffing levels in the project, with several hundred employees dismissed from the workforce of around 6k, the sources said. Contractors have cut thousands more jobs as construction activity at The Line slowed sharply, reflecting a broader reset in timelines.

Why this matters: The ambitious USD 1 tn gigaproject has faced mounting fiscal and engineering pressures, leading to delays and scaled-back designs. The new unit signals a bid to improve efficiency and curb ballooning costs, helping keep the project moving on a more sustainable budget and schedule.

IN CONTEXT- This move adds to the recent reports of a new vision for Neom as a “far smaller” development, serving as a hub for data centers. Neom’s management may also be reshaped, with control possibly shifting from the PIF to other state-backed entities.

But work never stopped here: Although the 2029 Asian Winter Games were deferred because of delayed work at Torjena, construction continues at the ski resort, along with progress at the megaport and industrial city Oxagon, and the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, according to Semafor.

CONSULTING — Is PwC back in the PIF’s good graces? The Public Investment Fund reportedly allowed PwC to resume bidding on its advisory and consulting contracts, as the 12-month ban is coming to an end, Bloomberg reported, citing people it said are familiar with the matter.

Why this matters:PwC’s ban reportedly triggered layoffs of some 60 partners and 1.5k employees last year, with the firm’s revenue growth dropping to 0.4% for the fiscal year ending in June 2025, down from 26% growth recorded the previous year. Resuming business as usual offers a sigh of relief for the firm, which seeks a chunk of the large Saudi advisory and consulting market.

The Kingdom remains a crucial market for PwC, which opened a new regional headquarters in Riyadh’s Laysen Valley last month and appointed new leadership for its Middle East business earlier last year.

REAL ESTATE — Al Saedan Real Estate has launched a SAR 1.5 bn investment platform — named SL Property — that will focus on commercial, residential, hospitality, infrastructure, and data center developments across the country. The platform will invest in six to eight projects — concentrated in Riyadh and Jeddah — in its first phase.

All thanks to the Foreign Property Ownership Law: The development was spurred on by the Foreign Property Ownership Law, which has gone live this week, allowing non-Saudi individuals and institutions to own properties and hold real estate rights in Saudi Arabia.

Who’s involved? SL Property was set up in partnership with UK-based specialist asset manager Serpentine Lake Capital and Canadian real estate investment outfit SGI Real Estate.

Market Watch

Opec+ is expected to keep oil output increases on hold through March at its meeting on Sunday, delegates told Reuters. The alliance froze planned hikes after a rapid unwinding of production cuts last year — effectively holding supply flat for 1Q. Brent has peaked at around USD 66 a barrel this month, up from year-start lows, thanks to supply setbacks in Kazakhstan.

The expectation inside the group is that policy stays unchanged, though some members caution that discussions have not formally begun yet, four delegates told Bloomberg. There is no sense so far that this month’s turbulence in Venezuela or Iran requires a response, one source said, while another flagged the caveat: a serious supply disruption would change the math fast and could push Opec+ to open the taps.

Data point

3k+ aircraft — that’s the cumulative order backlog held by the UAE, India, and Saudi Arabia with Airbus and Boeing, more than double the size of their current fleets, according to a statement from Avolon. Around 900 deliveries are expected over the next three years.

The global scene: While the aviation sector’s prospects are looking promising, thanks to persistent low fuel prices and growth from markets like the US, Europe, the Gulf, and India, a chronic undersupply of aircraft is weighing on the outlook. Airbus and Boeing’s total backlog now stands at more than 11 years, as the two — along with Embraer — saw 2k new orders last year. Going forward, the aircraft shortage is set to lead to higher lease rates.

Still, the sector’s earnings are set to come in at USD 41 bn this year, which would make it the fourth year of gains as it looks to recover the USD 182 bn pandemic-induced losses.

The roundup of news and trends that move your markets and shape corporate agendas delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe here

***You’re reading EnterpriseAM Saudi, your essential daily roundup of business, economics, and must-read news about Saudi, delivered straight to your inbox. We’re out Sunday through Thursday by 7am Riyadh time.

EnterpriseAM Saudi is available without charge thanks to the generous support of our friends at Tas’heel and Hassan Allam Properties.

Want to send us a story idea, request coverage, ask for a correction, or otherwise get in touch? Reach out to us on saudi@enterpriseAM.com.

DID YOU KNOW that we also cover Egypt, the UAE, the MENA logistics industry, and the MENA <> India corridor?

Were you forwarded this email? Tap or click here to get your own copy of EnterpriseAM Saudi delivered every weekday.
***

The big story abroad

It’s a mixed bag in the foreign business press this morning, with the USD’s slide, gas prices, and Trump’s latest tariff announcement all making headlines.

#1- Trump to hike tariffs on Seoul: US President Donald Trump announced he is hiking tariffs on South Korean autos, lumber, and pharma from 15% to 25%, blaming the country’s legislature for not implementing a trade agreement reached last November. The move strains Washington’s relationship with a major trade partner, as South Korea ranks among the top 10 sources of imports to the US, with over USD 150 bn worth of Korean goods heading to the US every year.

#2- The USD dipped to its lowest point since 2022 amid speculation about joint US-Japan efforts to boost the JPY, which jumped to a two-month high. Adding to pressure on the greenback are worries of another government shutdown and geopolitical tension pushing investors away from the currency and into safe haven assets.

#3- Musk’s X is in hot water with the EU: The European Union is investigating Elon Musk’s X following the generation of explicit images of women and children by its in-app AI chatbot Grok. The probe will ascertain whether or not the company properly mitigated risks of its chatbot’s functionalities in the bloc.

#4- US natural gas prices have soared to a three-year high after a major winter storm disrupted production across the country.

Tags: