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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: International private credit is edging back into Saudi Arabia

Good morning and happy THURSDAY. Access runs through the whole issue today — to credit, to equity, to office space, and to the main market.

Some of the biggest names in global finance are lending in the Kingdom again. Goldman Sachs and HSBC are in a nine-figure facility for a Saudi manufacturer, the first transaction of its kind since the war began, and the borrower is nobody’s idea of a trophy asset.

Founders are turning to debt because the equity has gotten harder to raise. Venture investors say companies are now taking debt alongside their next round rather than keeping it in reserve. Saudi venture funding is down about a third over nine months, while the UAE pulled further ahead.

Riyadh’s prime offices have nowhere left to go. Grade A occupancy sits at 98% and rents in the core have stopped rising, with the only real growth over the past year out west in the Diplomatic Quarter and Laysen Valley, where there is still space to take.

A credit comeback

International private credit is edging back into Saudi Arabia, war and all. Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and Mubadala-backed Fortress Investment Group, alongside regional managers Ruya Partners and Amwal Capital, are providing USD 150 mn in financing to nonwoven fabrics manufacturer United Saudi Company, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. It’s one of the first major private credit deals involving big international financiers since the regional war began in February, and Fortress’ first move into Saudi private credit.

IN CONTEXT- The agreement comes as the Kingdom faces near-daily Houthi attacks, strained domestic finances, and tight bank liquidity, making foreign capital all the more important.

Fresh money is forming up: Janus Henderson has raised almost USD 200 mn for a regional private credit fund, and Ruya, backed by Mubadala and PIF, is raising a USD 400 mn fund that would be among the region’s largest.

A new consumer rulebook

The cabinet approved the Kingdom’s first comprehensive consumer protection law, according to a cabinet statement and Commerce Minister Majid Al Kassabi. The law will take effect 180 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, replacing three existing laws: the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law, the E-commerce Law, and the Commercial Data Law.

The details: The legislation regulates the relationship between consumers and businesses, covering contracts, compensation for damages, and safeguards for vulnerable groups including children, older people, and people with disabilities. It also allows authorities to take temporary measures to curb abnormal price increases during crises and other exceptional circumstances, including setting prices, capping margins, and requiring prior approvals before businesses raise prices.

The legislation prohibits misleading commercial practices, including providing false or ambiguous information, withholding relevant details or presenting them unclearly, and selling adulterated products. It also bans coercive practices, burdensome restrictions on consumers, and extra charges for using specific payment methods.

Violators face fines of up to SAR 8 mn, prison terms of up to two years, suspension of business activities, seizure of non-compliant products, and public consumer warnings, according to the Commerce Ministry.

Iraq eyes a route to Yanbu

Saudi Arabia and Iraq are weighing reviving an oil pipeline linking Iraq to the Red Sea via the Kingdom, Iraqi news outlet Shafaq News reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Riyadh is open to updating its pipeline with Baghdad once the two sides set up joint technical teams, the sources said. The proposed route would give Iraq an alternative to exporting crude through the Strait of Hormuz, but neither government has publicly confirmed an agreement.

Not quite a restart: The original c. 1.6k-km pipeline ran from Iraq’s Zubair oilfield to Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port until it halted operations in 1990. Saudi Arabia took over the section on its territory in 2001 and has since repurposed it to carry Saudi crude, and the two countries are said to be considering building a replacement rather than restoring the old infrastructure. Iraq would fund construction on its side of the border, while ownership questions and technical arrangements remain unresolved.

REMEMBER- Kuwait is also exploring a Red Sea outlet through Saudi Arabia, with Kuwait Oil Company Deputy CEO Mohammed Al Abduljaleel telling EnterpriseAM in October that discussions with Saudi Arabia were underway. The project is still at an early stage, ahead of a feasibility study.

Pushed to 2027

DP World now expects to open its USD 250 mn Jeddah Logistics Park in 1Q 2027, Seatrade Maritime quotes GCC CEO Ahmad Al Hassan as saying at a roundtable. The 415k sqm development, which will provide warehousing and distribution facilities around Jeddah Islamic Port, was originally slated to open in 2Q 2025, with completion later pegged for 2Q 2026. No reason was given for the latest timetable change, and Al-Hassan said DP World hasn’t suspended any of its major regional projects during the conflict.

Jeddah’s cargo traffic is picking up: The port’s South Container Terminal posted another record month in October, Al Hassan said, as Saudi trade leaned more on Red Sea ports during the Strait of Hormuz closure. DP World has not disclosed October’s container volumes, but the terminal handled a record 221.2k TEUs in July.

REMEMBER- DP World and Mawani inaugurated the upgraded South Container Terminal in March 2025, expanding its annual capacity from 1.8 mn to 4 mn TEUs, with a further expansion to 5 mn TEUs in the works.

Boots on the ground

Egypt has confirmed its troops are already on Saudi soil. In Cairo’s first official acknowledgement, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told France 24 (watch, runtime: 13:21) that Egyptian forces and weapons are in the Kingdom to defend “sensitive sites, including holy sites and others.” Egypt’s parliament had approved the deployment last month.

Sources briefed on the matter put the troops in the hundreds, alongside armor, surface-to-surface missiles, and anti-aircraft batteries, including the Amoun system built to bring down low-flying missiles and drones, The National reports. The force is there to defend Saudi sites and may protect itself if attacked; it is not tasked with going after the Houthis directly, one source said.

ICYMI- The Kingdom has been calling in its regional allies for defensive help. Alongside Egypt, Saudi Arabia inked a defense agreement with Syria, while the Makkah Pact with Turkey and Pakistan has been ratified by all three members.

The coalition, meanwhile, is still playing defense. It intercepted and destroyed two Houthi drones launched toward the Makkah and southern regions, while air defenses downed three cruise missiles aimed at Riyadh. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree also claimed the group intercepted a Saudi F-15 warplane, preventing it from entering Sanaa airspace.

And the threat has spread to the sea: India’s shipping minister said the Saudi-flagged tanker NCC FAJR was caught in a possible attack in the Strait of Hormuz, though its crew is reported safe.

Data point

SAR 43.2 bn — that’s the total value of credit facilities provided by the Saudi Export-Import Bank through September, up 27.1% y-o-y from SAR 34 bn, SPA reported. Of that total, SAR 11.4 bn was disbursed through export financing, while SAR 31.8 bn covered exports under credit ins. SMEs accounted for 36.7% of the bank’s clients.

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The big story abroad

The PLA-linked Northwestern Polytechnical University bought Nvidia’s H200 AI chips last month despite a US blacklist, Reuters reports, citing procurement and corporate records. The report adds to investor jitters at Nvidia, which is investigating claims that Chinese intelligence targeted CEO Jensen Huang. Northwestern is one of the “Seven Sons of National Defense,” a group of US-sanctioned schools with a history of defense research for Beijing. The university bought the chips for its management school through Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology rather than directly from Nvidia. The Trump administration began approving some H200 exports to China case by case in January, but separate restrictions on Entity List organizations such as Northwestern still apply.

Two days of Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi ended without a breakthrough. The US side said it saw “some openings,” however, and Moscow and Kyiv both confirmed that a large-scale prisoner-of-war exchange could happen soon. US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will fly to Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by a visit to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Kushner said getting Europe “added to the format” would be on his agenda with Putin. Territory remains the sticking point: Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine give up the parts of Donetsk it still controls, and Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said “every inch” of land would be “returned to Russia one way or another.”

A shortfall of nearly 1 mn homes triggered Spain’s first general strike since 2012. The walkout involved 4 mn people braving stormy weather to set up picket lines over the housing crisis, less than three weeks before an early general election. Shops shut across major cities, including Madrid and Barcelona, global fashion brands included. Spain’s largest unions reported 90% turnout at ports and in the auto sector, as well as “total stoppages” at factories including Volkswagen’s in Navarre and Seat’s in Barcelona.

Riyadh’s office market turns selective as rents peak and supply recedes

Tenants looking for prime Riyadh office space won’t get relief this year. Grade A occupancy held at 98% in 3Q and rents have flattened near their ceiling, with three of the four zones Savills tracks recording no change or a marginal dip, according to the firm’s latest Riyadh office report (pdf). The market is moving out of the rapid-expansion phase of the past few years into something more selective.

Rents are broadly flat, with growth at the fringe. Savills splits the city into four office zones. Prime Zone A — the central core anchored on KAFD — still commands the highest average rent at SAR 2.86k per sqm a year, though it eased 0.7% q-o-q and 0.3% y-o-y. Zone B, the eastern business parks around Riyadh Business Gate and Granada, and Zone C, the Olaya and King Fahd Road spine of Kingdom Centre and Al Faisaliyah, held flat on the quarter at around SAR 2.48k and SAR 2.47k, up 1.2% and 5.8% over the year. The standout is Zone D on the western side — the Diplomatic Quarter and Laysen Valley — up 1.6% on the quarter and 9.8% on the year to SAR 2.47k, as demand spills out of the saturated core in search of availability and access.

Demand is what’s keeping it tight, drawn by the regional-HQ push. Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas took RHQ licenses over the summer, Greenberg Traurig moved into Kingdom Centre, Nokia opened an R&D center in September, Singapore’s Temasek plans a Riyadh office in 2027, and Barclays opened its KAFD headquarters this week.

The macro backdrop is reinforcing it: Business confidence rose to 56.6 in 3Q and the non-oil PMI averaged 54.1, while Saudi Arabia issued 9k investment licenses in 2Q, up 252% y-o-y, with the sectors that fill offices — information and communications (up 177%) and professional services (up 85%) — still expanding fast.

The supply that would loosen it is receding. More than 2.5 mn sqm of new Grade A space is due between now and 2030, lifting cumulative supply to 6 mn from 3.4 mn sqm this year, but 2026 completions are expected to roll into later years, so the near-term relief recedes. Over the longer term, Savills expects the pipeline to ease the tightness and hand tenants more choice and leverage on terms.

Occupiers are already playing defense. Amid geopolitical uncertainty they are favoring short-term renewals and immediately available fitted or shell-and-core space, while pre-leasing projects that still carry construction risk remains hard. Flex space is also gaining ground, with international firms targeting Riyadh through management and profitshare agreements, and five-year rent controls locking in cost certainty for tenants.

The outlook tilts toward flexibility. Savills expects occupiers to stay focused on cost control, flexible lease terms, and ready-to-occupy space, with further entry by flex operators widening choice and competition and new Grade A developments from 2027 gradually easing supply. Headline rents should stay broadly stable, with flexible terms and incentives supporting activity.

REMEMBER- International firms make up 50-60% of flexible-workspace occupiers in the capital, the highest share anywhere in the Middle East and Africa, and new business setups generate 55-60% of inquiries.

Borrowing to bridge Saudi Arabia’s venture funding gap

Saudi Arabia’s startups are leaning on venture debt to ride out a war that has made equity money scarcer. Equity investors have become pickier and founders are wary of giving up ownership, but the upshot is a change in how debt gets used, Fariha Ansari, a partner at India’s Stride Ventures, told Bloomberg. “We are seeing companies raise debt alongside their next equity round instead of holding it in reserve as a fallback,” she said.

Close to a dozen venture firms described the same pattern to Bloomberg, tracing it to cautious investors, a narrower appetite for deals, and the unknowns of a US-Iran war now in its ninth month.

That scramble has a clear cause: equity has slowed down. Saudi venture funding over the first nine months of the year came to USD 1 bn, down nearly a third from the same stretch in 2025, which had been a record. The slide looks sharper set beside the UAE, the kingdom’s long-standing rival for the region’s venture money, where funding climbed close to 20% to top USD 1.6 bn.

Who is writing the cheques has changed as well. Foreign money has pulled back to its lowest regional level in three years, and domestic investors have moved to fill the space. MENA-based backers accounted for 58% of capital put to work over 9M, their biggest share in three years, against 50% a year earlier, with foreign investors down to 42%.

The money that is still flowing favors established companies, which leaves early-stage founders short of equity, said Hasan Haider, founder and managing partner of Plus VC. Cautious investors are also taking longer to close their own funds, Haider added, and that leaves less to spend on new prospects and stalling startup rounds.

The usual way out for equity backers is blocked too. No company has won approval to float on the main market since April, even with candidates waiting, and the Capital Market Authority is pressing ahead with a rewrite of the listing rules that bankers have cautioned may raise the bar for going public. With fresh equity thin and the IPO door shut, debt becomes the obvious fallback.

Enter debt: Loans let companies keep growing without opening a fresh equity round that might price them below their last valuation, said Sharaf Sharaf, head of the Ajeej Capital-managed Amplify Growth Fund. Smaller firms are tapping it too. SMEs that struggle to secure traditional bank loans in the Kingdom are turning to alternative lenders, with debt-crowdfunding platform Raqamyah arranging as much as USD 107 mn this year, double its 2025 volume, and Erad fielding more than USD 1 bn in financing requests since launching 18 months ago.

OUR TAKE- Debt is bridging the gap that stalled equity and frozen IPOs have opened, which keeps companies funded through a thin patch. The exposure comes later. A loan taken now buys time on a down round while valuations sit low, but if the equity market stays frozen and exits don’t reopen, firms that borrowed against inflated marks may find the repayment harder than the raise. BRKZ, the Aramco-backed construction-tech firm that just lined up financing with Stride, takes a calmer view, saying the downturn hasn’t altered its playbook and that it treats debt and equity as complements.

What’s next: Over the next couple of years, Stride Ventures aims to deploy more than double the USD 90 mn it committed so far in Saudi transactions, with plans to close at least two more transactions before year-end.

Saudi consumer names turn the corner as Lazurde, Tanmiah swing back to black

A golden turnaround

Lazurde swung back to the black on net income of SAR 1.8 mn in 3Q from a net loss of SAR 4.3 mn a year earlier, on revenue up 14.1% y-o-y at SAR 1 bn, according to a Tadawul disclosure. Most of the revenue gain came from higher gold prices flowing through the top line, with operating revenue, which strips out the gold metal value, up 3% to SAR 148.3 mn. 9M net income reached SAR 200k against a SAR 16.8 mn loss a year earlier on revenue up 29.3% at SAR 2.94 bn, with retail now half of operating revenues.

The gold play underneath: Lazurde is building its own gold reserve to cut reliance on external gold financing, and now runs at its lowest gold working volume in 15 years. The company expects this to lower financing costs and leverage over time. The trade-off is mark-to-market volatility. It booked a SAR 5.4 mn fair value gain in 3Q, against a SAR 5.7 mn fair value loss over the first nine months.

Less on promotion, more on the bottom line

Jarir Marketing grew 3Q net income 15.1% y-o-y to SAR 374 mn, with revenue rising 7.8% to SAR 3.2 bn, according to a Tadawul filing. The retailer said limited product supply reduced the need for discounted promotional offers, allowing it to hold prices and protect margins. Higher other income and slightly lower net finance costs also supported the quarterly result. Smartphones led y-o-y sales growth across most sections.

9M net income climbed 16.7% y-o-y to SAR 863 mn, while revenue increased 9.7% y-o-y to SAR 9 bn. The company again pointed to lower promotional discounting amid limited product supply as the main buoy.

A narrower loss as Saudi Fisheries restructures

Saudi Fisheries narrowed its net loss 43.5% y-o-y to SAR 3.9 mn in 3Q 2026 despite generating no revenue, as the company booked no selling costs and smaller losses from discontinued operations after suspending commercial activity, according to a Tadawul filing. The nine-month net loss narrowed 56.2% to SAR 8.1 mn.

With commercial activity suspended, it booked no selling and distribution expenses against SAR 985k a year earlier, its loss from discontinued operations shrank to SAR 460k from SAR 2.2 mn, and it reversed SAR 1 mn in expected credit loss provisions. Those were partly offset by an 81.9% rise in general and administrative expenses, largely costs tied to a proposed SAR 334.9 mn rights issue that failed to secure the required majority at a 27 September extraordinary general assembly.

Accumulated losses reached SAR 24.8 mn, or 37% of capital, at the end of September, up from 31.2% in 2Q 2026, according to a separate Tadawul disclosure. That puts it in the 35%-to-below-50% regulatory disclosure category. With its proposed capital increase rejected, the company’s plan to address the losses includes a sale of its Riyadh headquarters and completing an agreement to sell 51% of its stake in Al-Huraidah National Aquaculture.

Almunajem loses steam in 3Q

Almunajem Foods’ bottom line was virtually flat y-o-y in 3Q 2026 at SAR 31.5 mn on revenue 3.2% lower y-o-y at SAR 790 mn, according to a Tadawul filing, as higher financing costs and lower income from an associate offset a 6.9% rise in operating income. The company tied the finance costs to increased capital spending and strategic investments.

9M 2026 net income more than doubled, up 107.7% y-o-y to SAR 213.3 mn on margins improving across all categories in 1H. Revenue fell 2% to SAR 2.46 bn on higher costs and lower volumes, which the company linked to the ongoing geopolitical situation. That follows a difficult 2025, when Almunajem's net income fell 42.6% amid smaller contributions from associate Balady Poultry, while pricing pressure in red and white meat weighed on revenue.

Tanmiah gets back to business

Tanmiah Food swung to net income of SAR 5.4 mn in 3Q from a SAR 15.8 mn loss a year earlier, on revenue up 26.7% at SAR 777.9 mn, according to a Tadawul filing and the company’s earnings release (pdf). It attributed the turnaround to higher poultry prices, cost savings, an improved product mix, and increased production at its Majmaah 2 plant, partly offset by higher diesel, utility, feed, logistics, and financing costs, with gross margin easing to 21.9% from 22.4%.

Agribusiness returned to the black, with fresh poultry revenue up 15.5% on higher volumes and selling prices, and animal feed and health products up 98.5%. Restaurant operations, which runs Popeyes outlets in the Kingdom, Bahrain, and Kuwait, narrowed its loss on revenue up 25.5%. Nine-month net income rose more than sixfold to SAR 23.2 mn on revenue up 18.4% at SAR 2.3 bn, with revenue outside the Kingdom up 71.2% at SAR 243.6 mn, or 10.6% of the total.

AFG Retail narrows losses as international sales grow

AFG Retail narrowed its 3Q net loss 23.5% y-o-y to SAR 99.2 mn and swung to operating income of SAR 33.4 mn from a SAR 35.2 mn operating loss, on revenue up 6% at SAR 1.28 bn, according to a Tadawul filing and its earnings release (pdf). International revenue rose 10.9% to SAR 489.9 mn on double-digit growth in Armenia, Georgia, and Uzbekistan, while Saudi revenue excluding F&B rose 4.5% to SAR 713.9 mn on electronics, sports, beauty and lifestyle brands. The narrower loss also reflects SG&A down 10.9%, mainly because around SAR 28 mn in professional fees didn’t recur, alongside a one-time SAR 19 mn rent reduction and the absence of last year’s SAR 8.1 mn in foreign exchange losses. Financing costs rose 25.7% to SAR 108.1 mn on the full-period impact of facilities put in place in 2025.

The nine-month loss narrowed 2.6% to SAR 233.1 mn on revenue up 6.3% at SAR 3.9 bn, with finance costs up 33.8% at SAR 314.7 mn. Accumulated losses reached SAR 2.49 bn, or 217% of capital, at 30 September, and the shareholders’ equity deficit widened to SAR 1.84 bn from SAR 1.33 bn a year earlier.

A higher financial inclusion ranking for Saudi Arabia, and a stronger brand valuation for Aramco

Saudi Arabia climbed three places to 27th in the 2026 Global Financial Inclusion Index, with its score rising to 48.6 from 45.0, according to the Principal Financial Group and the Centre for Economics and Business Research report (pdf). The Kingdom ranked second globally for SME growth support, fifth for AI governance, and eighth for employer support. It also scored highest among the 42 markets assessed for its fintech strategy, placing it among five “Next Gen Leaders” with the potential to become future global fintech leaders.

MEANWHILE- Aramco retained its position as the world’s second most valuable oil and gas brand in 2026, with its brand value rising 14% y-o-y to USD 47.3 bn, according to Brand Finance. This marks its strongest brand value growth in four years. Shell held the top spot for the 12th consecutive year, with a brand value of USD 51.8 bn.

First Avenue begins its move from Nomu to Tadawul’s main market

First Avenue for Real Estate Development has begun the move up from Nomu to the main market after its board signed off on Tuesday, according to a Tadawul filing. The developer has already cleared seven of the 11 transfer requirements under the Listing Rules. What it hasn’t cleared is float.

Where things stand: The financials are already there with two years on Nomu as of 16 October, no accumulated losses, and a trailing 12-month market cap of SAR 1.12 bn, well clear of the SAR 200 mn floor, the company said in a statement (pdf). First Avenue’s gap is distribution. Public ownership sits at 23%, around seven points below the 30% statutory minimum, and the company needs 239 more qualifying shareholders — taking it to 600 — to reach Tadawul’s top liquidity tier, which would waive the shareholder-concentration requirement. The 30% float minimum stays in force regardless.

Everything from here is procedural and float-dependent. First Avenue has to widen its public ownership, publish its board transfer report at least 30 days before it applies, formally appoint financial and legal advisers, and file. The Saudi Exchange has the final call.

Riyadh stadium bids get extra time

Contractors now have until 1 December to bid for early works at Riyadh’s King Salman International Stadium, after the Sports Ministry pushed back the deadline from 19 November, Meed reports. The tender, issued on 11 October, covers site preparation, enabling works, and initial construction. The 92k-seat stadium, designed by US-based Populous, is due for completion in 2029 and will host the opening match and final of the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

Gathering wind

Saudi Arabia is putting serious wind behind Turkey’s grid. The two countries signed an agreement for 3 GW of wind power, with HVDC transmission lines and battery storage built alongside it, the Turkish Energy Ministry said. That’s about a fifth of Turkey’s existing wind capacity, according to Reuters.

It completes a 5 GW framework, building on the intergovernmental agreement signed in February, that tasked Acwa with 5 GW of Turkish renewables. The first phase, 2 GW of solar at Sivas and Karaman, is already underway. The new agreement adds wind power and storage. The full 5 GW is a roughly USD 5 bn commitment, with financial close targeted for 2027 and first power by early 2028, as we reported in February.

OmniOps targets the inference layer

OmniOps is pitching sovereign AI that stays inside the Kingdom. The company has launched Bunyan Inference Hub, a platform that lets governments and businesses run open-source AI models on compute hosted in Saudi Arabia, keeping data and workloads onshore — the selling point for public bodies and regulated sectors bound by data-residency rules, according to a press release. It bundles model access and GPU capacity in one place, is hardware-agnostic across different chips and accelerators, and leans on OmniOps’ own inference-optimization engine to lift GPU use and cut the cost per token.

MENA startup funding falls 96% in October to USD 40 mn as megadeals vanish

Startup funding across the MENA region plunged 96% m-o-m to around USD 40 mn in October, although September’s USD 1.1 bn made for an unusually high comparison base. Three Saudi fintech rounds — Barq, Tabby, and Lendo — accounted for USD 762.5 mn, or nearly 70% of September’s total. Lendo’s USD 200 mn is a debt program with Quantic Financial Solutions, not an equity round. The number of transactions also fell 56% to 32 from 73, according to a monthly report by Wamda and Digital Digest. And Wamda’s count for October 2025 was USD 784.9 mn, putting the y-o-y drop at 95% as well.

But the slowdown went beyond the absence of big-ticket plays. Not a single startup across the region secured funding beyond the early stage in October. Early-stage startups raised USD 33.7 mn across 24 transactions, while debt financing was limited to a single USD 550k transaction. There were also no late-stage or mega-round investments. Seven other startups raised USD 5.7 mn between them without disclosing a stage.

The month was narrow as well as small. B2B startups took USD 34.3 mn across 21 transactions, or 86% of the month’s total, and female-founded or mixed-gender teams raised USD 200k between them from two rounds — 0.5% of the month.

Saudi Arabia led the region, attracting USD 18.8 mn, or 47% of October’s funding, across nine transactions. Autobia’s USD 12 mn Series A accounted for nearly two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s total and 30% of all funding raised across MENA. And the UAE followed with USD 12.9 mn across 10 transactions, while Qatar came third with a single USD 5 mn round. The rest of the field was smaller than a single Series A: Kuwait USD 650k, Jordan USD 560k, and Syria USD 365k.

Egypt slipped to fourth place, raising just USD 1.7 mn across six transactions, averaging less than USD 300k each. That’s down from USD 49.2 mn in September, when Paymob’s USD 35 mn round accounted for most of the funding. But even excluding Paymob, September’s total would have stood at USD 14.2 mn, by our math, suggesting Egypt’s October slowdown went well beyond the absence of a large funding round.

BACKGROUND: Egyptian startups raised USD 206 mn in 9M 2026, down 20% y-o-y, and Saudi funding fell 29% to USD 1 bn, while UAE funding rose 17% to USD 1.6 bn, according to Magnitt data seen by EnterpriseAM last month. The same report logged 31 startup M&A transactions across MENA in 9M, down 26% y-o-y, and expected a higher-for-longer rate environment to weigh on venture activity through 2027. Thin exits and dear money help explain why the late-stage tier has gone quiet.

MENA startups have raised around USD 3.4 bn in the first 10 months of 2026, by Wamda’s count, compared with a record USD 7.5 bn in all of 2025. The figures capture only disclosed rounds, however. When reported funding in Egypt dried up in March amid regional war jitters, local VCs told us that capital was still moving, but transactions weren’t necessarily being announced.

Why it matters: At USD 40 mn, the monthly total is a reading on the top of the market — a handful of Gulf financings — not on the pipeline underneath. Three Saudi transactions were 70% of September’s USD 1.1 bn, and October had none. Strip those three out, and September would have still come to USD 338 mn, by our math, more than eight times October’s USD 40 mn. Early stage is where most founders in the region actually raise, and it keeps thinning: 9M early-stage dealcount was down 45% y-o-y even as mega-rounds set records. That is the line to watch, not the headline. Wamda’s own framing is that November and December will test whether investors regain confidence after the near-freeze.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets closed higher yesterday. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.3% and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 2.6%, even as more investors expect the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by 50 basis points. Kospi started the day down 0.6%, but bounced back to finish higher.

TASI	10,308	+1.4% (YTD: -1.7%)
MSCI Tadawul 30	1,398	+1.3% (YTD: +0.8%)
NomuC	21,949	+0.4% (YTD: -5.8%)
USD : SAR (SAMA)	USD 3.75 Sell	USD 3.75 Buy
Interest rates	4.25% repo	3.75% reverse repo
EGX30	52,500	0.0% (YTD: +25.5%)
ADX	9,585	+0.3% (YTD: -4.1%)
DFM	6,221	+0.8% (YTD: +2.5%)
S&P 500	7,619	+1.3% (YTD: +11.3%)
FTSE 100	10,835	+0.8% (YTD: +9.1%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,393	+1.0% (YTD: +10.3%)
Brent crude	USD 92.76	+1.4%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 3.25	+1.0%
Gold	USD 3,984	-0.4%
BTC	USD 73,916	+0.6% (YTD: -15.6%)
Sukuk/bond market index	891	-0.4% (YTD: -3.1%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	149.41	-0.3% (YTD: -1.6%)
VIX (Fear gauge)	17.49	-10.1% (YTD: +17.0%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose +1.4% yesterday on turnover of SAR 4.8 bn. The index is down 1.7% YTD.

In the green: Raoom Trading (+10.0%), Knowledge Economic City (+10.0%), and Nofoth Food Products (+9.4%).

In the red: Advanced Building Industries (-6.5%), Anaam International Holding Group (-4.7%), and Development Works Food (-4.6%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose yesterday 0.4% on turnover of SAR 26 mn. The index is down 5.8% YTD.

In the green: Mohammed Hasan AlNaqool Sons Co. (+5.55%), Group Five Pipe Saudi Co. (+0.17%), and Aqaseem Factory for Chemicals and Plastics Co. (+2.55).

In the red: Molan Steel (-7.0%), Arabian Plastic Industrial (-4.5%), and Neft Alsharq (-3.7%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

The Capital Market Authority greenlit Keir International’s request to cut its capital by 72% to SAR 33.6 mn from SAR 120 mn, reducing its shares to 33.6 mn from 120 mn, according to a statement. Shareholder approval and regulatory procedures are pending.

Founders call Khalid Al Abdan too late — and that’s the pitch behind Defence Law Firm

Khalid Al Abdan saw a generation of Saudi founders building fast — raising, hiring, striking partnerships — and spotted the service they’d need: Advisers in the room when equity is split, technology ownership is documented, and fundraising terms are set, before any of it hardens into a problem. That is the pitch behind Defence Law Firm, which he co-founded on a legacy dating back to a practice established in 2006.

Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Khalid Al Abdan (LinkedIn), co-founder of Defence Law Firm. Edited excerpts of our conversation:

EnterpriseAM: What prompted you to establish Defence Law Firm?

Khalid Al Abdan: The belief that a lawyer’s role should go beyond resolving legal problems to helping build businesses, protect investments, and support strategic decisions. The firm builds on a legacy dating back to 2006, when Alabdan Law Firm was established by Professor Dr. Ahmed Alabdan. In late 2023, we began developing that experience under a new identity aligned with the Kingdom’s economic and investment transformation. The gap I saw was that startups, entrepreneurs, and investors needed advisers who understand their commercial objectives and offer practical solutions — advisers who are part of the decision-making process rather than reviewing decisions after they are made.

E: What were the hardest challenges in building the firm?

KA: Earning and maintaining trust. The Kingdom’s legal market is home to well-established names, so we had to give clients a reason to choose us based on the quality of our services and our understanding of their needs. Building the right team mattered just as much. Legal knowledge alone is not enough, and we need people who can analyze issues, understand commercial risks, and communicate well. A key decision was choosing a clear presence in sectors where we could add value rather than competing across every practice area at once. Rapid growth is not necessarily an indicator of success.

E: How has the business model evolved?

KA: After the restructuring and rebranding in 2024, we moved to a more integrated approach centered on specialization, long-term client relationships, and services tailored to how businesses’ needs evolve — from day-to-day legal support to advice on investment deals, restructuring, and complex disputes. Litigation and rights protection remain essential, and proactive advisory work, governance, and risk management prevent disputes and improve commercial decisions. The goal is to be a long-term partner rather than a provider of legal services on demand.

E: What are the firm’s priorities over the next few years?

KA: Three things, in balance: Deepening our specialization in corporate and investment law, governance, and M&A; developing our institutional model by investing in talent, systems, and procedures that deliver consistent quality at scale; and building partnerships with financial institutions and investment banks in the investment ecosystem. Geographical expansion is among the options, but any expansion has to be driven by genuine market demand while we maintain the same level of service.

E: How has demand for legal services changed as the private sector and investment environment have grown?

KA: Previously, much of the demand was tied to disputes companies faced after they had arisen. Today, there is growing awareness of the value of legal advice at the planning and establishment stages, before major commercial decisions are made. Legislative developments — including the Companies Law and the Investment Law — have increased demand for specialized services as international investors enter the market, local companies expand, and new business models emerge.

We see growing demand in company formation and structuring, governance and compliance, investment agreements, shareholder relationships, M&A, and the protection of intellectual property, data, and contractual rights. The next phase will bring more demand for advisers who combine deep specialization with an understanding of different economic sectors.

E: What are the most common mistakes startups make when setting up and fundraising?

KA: Prioritizing product, customers, and fundraising while postponing legal matters. Some startups begin with partnerships based on personal trust, without clear agreements defining founders’ responsibilities, management powers, and partners’ rights. Others allocate equity without considering actual contributions and future commitments, fail to document ownership of key technologies and IP, or overlook how fundraising terms affect ownership, governance, and investors’ rights.

Early-stage governance means clear, proportionate rules that protect founders and support growth — investors assess the legal structure, ownership clarity, and potential exit options, beyond the business idea. Prepare for investment from the earliest stages, rather than waiting until an investor comes along.

E: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned about building a business in the Saudi market?

KA: Establishing a company can be far easier than building an institution capable of sustaining itself. In the early stages, a founder can rely on personal effort and relationships. As the business expands, that stops being enough. Some founders expand before the internal foundation is solid, or measure success through revenue alone without considering profitability and operational quality. Choose your partners carefully, set clear responsibilities from the outset, and build a team and systems that reduce the company’s dependence on you personally. The Saudi market offers significant chances today, and it has become more competitive — so the ability to learn and adapt is one of the most important ingredients for success.

Khalid’s favorites

How he starts his day: Reviewing priorities, key decisions, and the team’s progress. Effective time management is about focusing on the tasks with the greatest impact, rather than completing more tasks.

His best piece of advice: Don’t limit yourself to your specialization or job title. Anyone who wants to start a business should understand how companies operate across departments. Real experience comes from taking responsibility, making mistakes, and learning from them.

Outside work: High-performance fitness training and horse riding — both help me maintain discipline and balance. And time with friends, exchanging ideas and discovering new things.

CALENDAR

DECEMBER

14-16 December (Monday-Wednesday): The Innovation Driven Water Sustainability Conference (IDWS), Jeddah.

2027

JANUARY

6 January (Wednesday): The Transport General Authority’s executive regulations for self-driving passenger transport takes effect.

12-14 January (Tuesday-Thursday): The Future Minerals Forum (FMF), Riyadh.

FEBRUARY

1-3 February (Monday-Wednesday): Energy Regulators Regional Association annual conference, Riyadh.

1-4 February (Monday-Thursday): Cityscape Global, Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre (Malham), Riyadh.

MARCH

21-25 March (Sunday-Thursday): The World Water Forum, Riyadh.

22–24 March (Monday-Wednesday): Capital Markets Forum, Four Seasons Hotel, Riyadh

APRIL

26-29 April (Monday-Thursday): World Energy Congress, Riyadh.

JUNE

1-3 June (Tuesday-Thursday): Saudi Entertainment and Amusement Expo, Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center.

JULY

1-5 July (Thursday-Monday): Grand Finale of The Ocean Race, Amaala.

NOVEMBER

16-18 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Global Logistics Forum, Riyadh.

29-30 November (Monday-Tuesday): Global Airports Forum, Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center.

DECEMBER

7-11 December (Tuesday-Saturday): Aero Middle East and Sand & Fun, Thumamah Airport, Riyadh.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2027:

Riyadh-Kudmi transmission line to be completed;
April: Aluminum Arabia, The Arena, Riyadh;
2Q: The Hail Region Water Networks Project is expected to be completed;
November: Esports Nations Cup, Riyadh;
November: UN Trade and Development Global Supply Chain Forum, Riyadh.

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