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.