Sarat rolls out USD 100 mn fund

Sarat Investments Holding has launched a USD 100 mn fund focused on the life sciences sector, Jawlah reports. The five-year fund will target 15-20 startups that have moved beyond the early stage and reached Series A or later funding rounds. It will only invest in companies that have already begun commercial and manufacturing operations and generate annual revenues of up to about USD 2 mn to maximize exit prospects.

What’s next: The fund has a planned exit strategy, with a second fund targeted at 5x the initial investment size if the first phase succeeds.

A rail route to Oxagon

Neom wants to put its Oxagon port on the rail map, issuing a design tender for a freight line linking the Port of Neom to the national network, Meed reports. The line, estimated at over 400 km, would run to the Al Baseeta junction in Al Jawf, where it would meet Saudi Arabia Railways’ North-South route. Consultants are being asked to handle feasibility studies, concept design, and route alignment, with the submissions completed yesterday.

Why it matters: Anything arriving at Neom’s port currently has to reach Riyadh, the Gulf, or markets beyond by road or another sea voyage. A rail link at Al Baseeta would plug the port into the interior and, through existing branches, Jordan and the industrial belt around Ras Al Khair, Jubail, and Dammam. It would also give the North-South line, built to haul northern minerals to the Gulf, a second sea gateway at Oxagon on the Red Sea, letting freight move through whichever coast is most efficient.

REMEMBER- Oxagon, Neom’s Red Sea industrial port, has gained strategic value as disruptions along the Strait of Hormuz push Gulf traders to seek alternative routes.

Ades makes another rig grab

Ades Holding completed its SAR 1.07 bn acquisition of Saipem’s shallow-water drilling business in Saudi Arabia, adding five premium jackup rigs to its fleet and around SAR 3.7 bn in backlog, according to a Tadawul filing (pdf). The purchase of Saudi Arabian Saipem through Ades’ subsidiary brings three owned rigs and two leased ones under its control. Four operate in Saudi Arabia, and one works in Mexico under a charter, giving Ades its first operating presence there.

The scale: After the transaction, Ades now runs 128 units: 88 offshore (51 of them premium) and 40 onshore, extending its footprint to 21 countries.

REMEMBER- The company said it was bringing 10 rigs back online this month as the drilling giant works to recover from a regional conflict that cost it about USD 30 mn a month in forgone revenue for an entire quarter, with a 31.9% y-o-y decline in 2Q net income.

A Saudi runway for Aleppo

A Saudi-backed upgrade of Aleppo International Airport will begin in early 2027, lifting the existing airport’s annual capacity past 2 mn passengers in phase one, according to Syrian state news agency Sana. Field surveys and technical studies are already underway. The development is being advanced through the Elaf Investment Fund, led by BinDawood Investment Company, as part of a broader Saudi investment commitment of SAR 7.5 bn to develop two airports in the Syrian city.

REMEMBER- It’s a multi-sector reconstruction push: Saudi’s planned investments in Syria span railways, a new joint airline, postal services, telecoms, desalination, and more.