Emirates NBD closes RBL Bank acquisition + Ninja inches closer to Delivery Hero’s Gulf assets

Banks are in a race against time to compress months of dealmaking into a few crowded weeks of open market, with investment-grade spreads back inside pre-war levels and a summer lull — plus the Fed — set to close the window. A handful

Emirates NBD has closed the largest FDI ever made in India’s banking sector, taking a 60% stake in Mumbai’s RBL Bank for USD 2.8 bn, according to a statement (pdf). It’s the first time a foreign bank has taken majority control of a profitable Indian lender — a barrier that held for decades and required sign-off from both the Reserve Bank of India and markets regulator SEBI. The deal institutionalizes the UAE-India capital corridor at the banking level, giving Dubai’s largest lender by assets a direct foothold across 600+ branches serving 1.4 bn+ people.

The mechanics: Emirates NBD bought in through a preferential share issue. Public shareholders, offered an exit under India’s mandatory open-offer rules, didn’t tender (pdf), leaving the bank with 60% rather than the 74% it could have taken. Emirates NBD will fold its existing Indian branches into RBL and reshape the board — two existing directors are resigning, replaced by five Emirates NBD executives including Group CEO Shayne Nelson and Group CFO Patrick Sullivan.

Ninja is inching closer to carving up Delivery Hero’s Gulf assets. The Saudi quick-commerce unicorn is working with Saudi and international investment banks to acquire some of Delivery Hero's holdings in the Kingdom and the UAE. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, UBS and Riyad Capital are advising.

Ninja was reportedly weighing a bid for parts of Delivery Hero’s Middle East portfolio, including Saudi unit HungerStation and a joint acquisition of Dubai-based Talabat. It’s also gearing up for a potential IPO that could raise USD 1 bn by late 2026 or early 2027.

Dubai Islamic Bank is back in debt markets for the second time this month, raising USD750 mn via a three-year senior unsecured Islamic financing — jumping on the chance again while spreads recover. DIB just last week priced a USD 1 bn AT1 sukuk at 6.25%, drawing a book of over USD 2.3 bn in a single-day roadshow, with MENA investors taking 83%. HSBC, Mizuho and Standard Chartered are lead arrangers and bookrunners.

Aljazira Bank closed its USD 500 mn Reg S perpetual AT1 sukuk under its USD 1.5 bn program, priced at 650 bps above US treasuries. The five-year callable certificates will list on the London Stock Exchange's International Securities Market.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is heading back to debt markets with a green label, mandating a three-year EUR-denominated green bond under its USD 20 bn Euro Medium Term Note Program at initial price thoughts of mid-swap plus 100-105 bps. Proceeds will fund or refinance projects under its Sustainable Finance Framework, with the bond expected to list in London. BBVA, HSBC, ICBC, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered are joint lead managers alongside FAB, and Standard Chartered is billing and delivery bank.

Abu Dhabi is placing a wager on fusion. Government-owned early-stage fund Plynth Energy has taken a minority stake in US-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) — one of the world’s best-funded fusion startups, with nearly USD 3 bn raised to date, Nuclear Engineering International reports. Axios put the stake at more than USD 100 mn, though terms aren't officially disclosed. Plynth is targeting precision manufacturing, advanced materials and diagnostic systems while gaining exposure to CFS’ SPARC reactor in Massachusetts and its planned ARC commercial plant in Virginia.

No bang for the buck just yet: Commercial fusion is still years out, but governments and investors are already jockeying for position around the supply chains expected to form around it. CFS expects SPARC to hit first plasma — the milestone marking initial charged-gas generation — this year or next, though grid-scale production could be a decade away.

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Cntxt AI, an Arabic AI startup, raised USD 60 mn in a series A co-led by PE firm BlueFive Capital and AI71, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council. It’s one of the larger early-stage Gulf AI raises this year and will fund product development and expansion into new markets.

MENA-focused fintech Sovra raised just over USD 2 mn in pre-seed funding to build a platform offering self-custodial USD accounts on stablecoin infrastructure, according to a press release (pdf). The round was led by Pharsalus Capital and drew a roster of angel heavyweights: Ramp founder Karim Atiyeh, Lean Technologies founder Hisham Al-Falih, 21Shares founder Hany Rashwan, and Egyptian b’naire and Orascom Development Holding Chairman Naguib Sawiris.

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