Emirates prices USD 750 mn AT1 issuance

Emirates NBD just reopened the regional AT1 market, after successfully pricing its USD 750 mn issuance at 50 bps tighter than its initial guidance, according to a press release. The move marked the first re-entry by a GCC player into debt markets since the war began and saw pricing tighten to 6.25% from initial price point guidance of 6.75%. The six-year, non-call notes will be listed on Euronext Dublin and Nasdaq Dubai. The issuance saw orders of more than three times the issuance size, with demand coming from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the UK.

ADVISORS- Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Citi, Barclays, HSBC, and JP Morgan were joint lead managers and bookrunners. Linklaters was dealer counsel, and Clifford Chance acted as issuer counsel.

Kuwait’s crude pipeline sale takes a step forward: JPMorgan, HSBC, National Bank of Kuwait, and Kuwait Finance House are stepping into a USD 6 bn financing syndicate for buyers eyeing a stake in Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's (KPC) pipeline network. The debt package is structured as a 20-year loan priced at around 170 bps over the secured overnight financing rate, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Emirates NBD also just cleared the biggest hurdle on its USD 3 bn move on Mumbai’s RBL Bank — India’s Sebi signed off on the “change of control” in a letter dated 29 April. The 60% stake (with a path to 74%) would reclassify RBL as a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary.

Qatar Investment Authority-backed Airtel Africa is steering its mobile money arm Airtel Money to a USD 1.5-2 bn London IPO that could value the unit at c. USD 10 bn — walking away from a UAE listing the regulator had already cleared, Bloomberg reports.

Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) is vying for up to 100% of EIH Consulting, a precious metals investment and consulting firm, and its subsidiaries, it said in a bourse filing (pdf). The EGX-listed SPAC — the country's first of its kind — secured initial BoD approval to acquire a controlling stake (50% +1) in EIH and its subsidiaries.

The transaction sits somewhere between the EGX and the physical metals market: Bringing in mobile gold and silver app Mngm — a precious metals platform developed by EIH Consulting — pulls CPME beyond SME lending and into retail savings and commodities, which makes sense in a market where gold is the default hedge.

Our friends at Mashreq posted 1Q 2026 net profit of AED 1.9 bn, up 7.5% y-o-y on a 20% jump in non-interest income — fees and FX now account for 41% of total income, the bank said in its earnings release (pdf). Customer loans climbed 33% and the cost-to-income ratio sat at 31%.

Higher prices help offset softer sales for Fertiglobe, with the Adnoc-owned urea and ammonia producer and exporter delivering a strong bottom line in 1Q 2026. Adjusted net income nearly doubled to USD 145 mn on higher pricing, even as volumes came under pressure from trade disruptions, dipping 12% y-o-y, according to its management discussion and analysis report (pdf) and earnings release (pdf). Revenue rose 32% y-o-y to USD 915 mn.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING TODAY-

Morocco’s ONHYM has kicked off the first fundraising round for the USD 25 bn, 5.6k km Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, marking the agency's debut as a public limited company, Bloomberg reports. The pipeline aims to link West African reserves into European markets.

Logistics firm Aramex refinanced AED 815 mn of debt, rolling its USD and GBP loans into one UAE-domiciled facility backed by local and international banks.

e& finalized its EUR 95 mn buy of broadband operator UPC Slovakia, slotting it under its O2 Slovakia subsidiary, the telco said in a regulatory filing (pdf). The deal follows the takeover of Telenor Pakistan and the launch of a wholesale hub in Miami.

BNP Paribas is selling its 67% stake in Moroccan subsidiary BMCI to Holmarcom Group, with closing expected in 4Q 2026. The French lender is keeping its institutional and corporate desk in Casablanca.

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