e& refocuses on telecoms while defense, crypto and delivery deals sweep the Gulf

E&’s new boss is dismantling the tech empire his predecessor spent years building. New group CEO Masood Sharif Mahmood is unwinding the UAE tech giant’s expansion strategy of recent years as he refocuses on the core telecoms that used to be known as Etisalat, Reuters reports. The portfolio review covers venture arm e& capital (around USD 194 mn deployed and committed across 20 companies) and SME lender Beehive, but would see e& keep control of e& PPF Telecom Group and its emerging-market operators.

The pullback has already begun: The USD 5.95 bn sale of its full 16.2% Vodafone stake to the Niel family, which we noted earlier this week, followed the partial sale in May of its Careem holding to Uber.

The strategy Mahmood is unwinding was former CEO Hatem Dowidar’s legacy — surplus cash from e&’s dominant position in the domestic telecoms industry was funding a push into tech, venture, and international assets ambitious enough that Etisalat rebranded as e& (as in “Etisalat and more”) in 2022. The shares are down 8.6% over three years, for a market cap of around USD 48.2 bn, and the group has concluded that steadier telecom returns should come first.

Uber is taking indirect control of Talabat. It launched a takeover bid for Delivery Hero — the German parent of the DFM-listed delivery player — at EUR 41.50 per share, valuing Delivery Hero’s equity at USD 14.8 bn, according to a press release. Uber already holds around 24.8% plus derivative exposure. Add in the shares Prosus has already agreed to sell Uber and its economic interest stands at north of 53%. Delivery Hero MENA would keep 80% of Talabat, with the rest remaining in free float on the DFM, where it listed in December 2024, per a DFM disclosure (pdf).

Why it matters: The transaction will create the world’s largest food-delivery platform outside China. Look for a close as early as the second half of next year.

Edge, the UAE’s national defense champion, has agreed to buy 100% of Akaer, a Brazilian aerospace engineering firm with more than 10 mn engineering hours logged for Embraer, Saab, and Turkish Aerospace, according to a statement from Edge that doesn’t say how much the transaction is worth. Akaer already works with Edge on unmanned systems.

We think defense is one of three big investment themes in the UAE over the coming decade alongside infrastructure and AI. Edge bought a 50% stake in Brazilian smart-weapons maker SIATT back in 2023; took a controlling stake in Italy’s CMD, a maker of advanced propulsion systems, in May of this year; and recently said it has set up a European headquarters in Paris.

Julphar’s divestment program is complete: The Emirati drugmaker finished the sale of Scientific Pharmacy’s pharmacy and distribution business in Oman to Al Batha Healthcare Group, it said in an ADX filing (pdf). It’s the final piece in a plan first disclosed in September 2025 to exit non-core assets and focus on specialty pharma across MENA. Al Batha also took Julphar’s Health First Pharmacy chain in the UAE in a sale that wrapped last month.

Revolut picked Dubai as its crypto beachhead. The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has given the fintech in-principle approval covering broker-dealer, exchange, management, and investment services, with the full VASP license expected before end-August, according to a report. UK-based Revolut has more than 75 mn customers globally, 16 mn of them crypto users, and already has UAE Central Bank stored-value and retail payment licenses.

Why it matters: One of the world’s biggest fintech players choosing Dubai over Singapore or Hong Kong as its crypto base reinforces VARA’s claim to be the most credible global licensing venue, war or not.

One of Saudi’s most high-profile green investments is taking it on the chin. A report suggests that EV maker Lucid — roughly 60% owned by PIF — was debating between filing for bankruptcy protection in the US or going private on the advice of AlixPartners, sending the stock down more than 50% intraday, its biggest drop on record. The company later called the rumors “completely false,” CNBC reports. The company claims it has plenty of liquidity on hand, pointing to some USD 1.05 bn it raised earlier this year (PIF’s Ayar took USD 550 mn of that) and some USD 2 bn undrawn on a PIF term loan. Lucid has plans to open a plant in Saudi, making it one of the cornerstones of the kingdom’s green manufacturing push.

WATCH THIS SPACE- Almoosa Health has built an SAR 2.5 bn war chest of debt for an expansion drive as Saudi’s healthcare industry continues to heat up. The Tadawul-listed hospital group out of Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province has just lined up a SAR 500 mn seven-year shariah-compliant facility from Banque Saudi Fransi to help fuel expansion, it said in a Tadawul filing. That’s on top of November’s SAR 1.34 bn Saudi Awwal loan for a Khobar specialist hospital and last August’s SAR 650 mn BSF facility. The company’s flagship is a 750-bed facility that focuses on specialist care in oncology, cardiology, and neurology.

Big players in Egypt’s real estate industry are positioning themselves to grow even as the market slows. Orascom Development secured EGP 18 bn (USD 360 mn) from a syndicate of the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and CIB to accelerate the buildout of its O West project in West Cairo, Reuters reports. The project is 25% complete.

Why it matters: Sales of high-end primary-home sales — the traditional store of wealth for rich Egyptians — have slowed, and the market is watching as smaller contractors struggle to finish what they’ve sold amid a cash crunch. We expect the big developers — players like Soduc, Marakez, PHD, and Orascom — to stock up on the cash they need to ensure on-time delivery.

SOUND SMART- Demand for real estate in Egypt hasn’t disappeared — it has moved. Coastal product in Sahel and on the Red Sea as well as hotels, offices, and mixed-use are all in high demand. Among the latest examples: Banque Misr’s real estate arm MAD is in talks to develop a 200-room hotel on 7.5k sqm opposite the Grand Egyptian Museum and the IFC is close to a USD 100 mn loan for AlDau’s flagship next door.

The International Finance Corporation is investing up to USD 100 mn in Jordan Kuwait Bank’s second green bond, alongside up to USD 0.69 mn in blended-finance support, with proceeds earmarked for climate projects including adaptation and resilience

AND- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has invested USD 100 mn in blue bonds issued by the kingdom’s Housing Bank. It’s the first blue bond in Jordan and the wider southern and eastern Mediterranean region. Proceeds are earmarked for investment across Jordan in water and wastewater management, EBRD said in an emailed statement.

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