{"id":82364,"date":"2023-11-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2023\/11\/28\/well-know-in-a-few-hours-if-were-hosting-the-worlds-expo-2030\/"},"modified":"2023-11-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T00:00:00","slug":"well-know-in-a-few-hours-if-were-hosting-the-worlds-expo-2030","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2023\/11\/28\/well-know-in-a-few-hours-if-were-hosting-the-worlds-expo-2030\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ll know in a few hours if we\u2019re hosting the world\u2019s Expo 2030"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people. <\/strong>It\u2019s a relatively slow news morning in the Kingdom, but it won\u2019t stay that way for long as we await news of whether Riyadh will get the nod to host the world\u2019s Expo 2030. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s never a slow news day when Metallica announce they\u2019re coming to Riyadh <\/strong>\u2014 or when we make a USD 12 bn move to project power into the \u2018Stans. <\/p>\n

** You\u2019re reading Zero Issue #004 of EnterpriseAM KSA. <\/strong><\/p>\n

** Think of a zero issue as a \u201cbeta.\u201d<\/strong> This issue has not been published or distributed to a wide audience. The sponsor logos above are not correct because we\u2019re still developing the new Saudi template.<\/p>\n

** Did you receive this as a forward?<\/strong> Email editorial@enterprisemea.com and let us know if you\u2019d like to be added to our list of beta readers ahead of our launch.<\/p>\n

** Have a comment, criticism, or story tip? <\/strong>Hit up patrick@enterprisemea.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n

HAPPENING TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- We\u2019ll know in just a few hours if we\u2019re hosting the Expo 2030<\/strong>world fair as member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) get ready to cast their ballots at a general assembly meeting today. <\/p>\n

Our competition: <\/strong>Rome and Busan. Rome has hosted before and Milan got Expo 2015, leading many pundits to say it come down to Riyadh vs Busan. Dubai had Expo 2020, raising calls in some quarters for the bid to be thrown to Busan, which has been lobbying heavily \u2014 backed by a massive online advertising campaign. (Is there any person out there that Google or Meta thinks is a college-educated business professional in MENA who hasn\u2019t been blanketed by targeted ads, particularly on the Reuters website?)<\/p>\n

Know who doesn\u2019t want us to get the expo? The Israelis. <\/strong>Israel has reportedly withdrawn its support for KSA\u2019s bid in the wake of the Gaza War, the Times of Israel<\/a> writes, citing a report by Israel\u2019s national broadcaster, Kan. <\/p>\n

The story is getting tons and tons of ink<\/strong> from Politico\u2019s EU edition (A football star, caviar and<\/a>a water show: Inside Saudi Arabia\u2019s campaign to host the 2030 Expo<\/a>) through to Reuters<\/a> and Korea JoongAng Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a> #2- <\/strong>Fad International debuts on Nomu today: <\/strong>The shares of Fad International<\/a> start trading on the parallel market Nomu today, according to a Tadawul disclosure<\/a> yesterday. The fashion retail company will be listing 240k shares, good for a 20% stake, according to the company\u2019s prospectus (pdf)<\/a>. The shares will open at SAR 84.00.<\/p>\n

Everyone wants a piece: <\/strong>The SAR 20.2 mn IPO of the Jeddah-based company saw strong demand with a 9x oversubscription, according to Argaam<\/a>. The company\u2019s bottom line grew nearly 20% y-o-y to SAR 15.7 mn in 2023. Fad owns retail brands Femi9<\/a> and Vivid Flair London<\/a>. <\/p>\n

ADVISORS- <\/strong>Yaqeen Capital<\/a> is quarterbacking the transaction as the financial advisor and the underwriter, while PwC is the auditor. <\/p>\n

Other Nomu listings in the pipeline:<\/strong><\/p>\n