Al Muhaidib, ESR Group set up USD 5 bn industrial + logistics platform

Al Muhaidib and ESR Group are setting up a 50/50 joint venture to invest up to USD 5 bn in industrial and logistics property over the next five years, according to a joint statement. The new JV will develop, own, and manage assets in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, with connections to ports, airports, rail networks, and industrial cities. The pipeline covers both new developments and acquisitions.

The platform is expected to begin operations in 1Q 2027, with a dedicated team based in the Kingdom. By the time of publication, neither company had responded to our questions about the timeline and investment size of the first phase, the locations of its initial projects, or how the targeted investments will be split between new developments and acquisitions.

A new mall in Madinah Downtown

Cenomi Centers has awarded a SAR 825 mn (USD 220 mn) design-and-build contract to Lynx Contracting for the mall and office at Madinah Downtown, the PIF-owned urban-development in Al Madinah, according to a Tadawul filing. The 30-month job is a related-party transaction: Chairman Fawaz Alhokair and Vice Chairman Salman Alhokair hold direct interests in Lynx, and Managing Director Kamel Alqalam an indirect one.

Go Telecom gets into AI

Etihad Go Telecom is moving into AI infrastructure. The company awarded SAR 185.9 mn to Dell partner Total Technical Triangle Company (3T) to supply and install a cloud AI facility — Dell servers running Nvidia GPUs, with the systems and licenses to run it — over 12 months, according to a Tadawul filing. Go plans to sell the capacity to government and private customers as a new revenue line, and hasn’t yet put a figure on the earnings impact.

Academy of Learning’s lease-led expansion

Academy of Learning is adding a second Riyadh school without buying the building. Its wholly owned Altaallum Almulham Schools has taken a 30-year lease from High Standards Real Estate on a complex in Al-Janadriyah with room for 2k pupils, from kindergarten to secondary, it said in a Tadawul disclosure. The lease is worth SAR 275.7 mn over its life and should start contributing to the books in the first half of the fiscal year beginning July 2027.

Horizon Food puts a number on industrial power tariffs

Horizon Food expects its power and water costs to rise about 15% next year after applying the new industrial utility tariffs, but says the increase will be immaterial, equivalent to around 0.09% of its expected FY 2027 revenue, according to a Tadawul filing.

IN CONTEXT- Horizon Food is among the first to put a number on the amended electricity and water rates issued last week, which lifted industrial electricity to SAR 0.23 from SAR 0.2 per kWh, with matching water and sewage rises, starting 1 January 2027.