Energy and infrastructure lead a busy dealmaking week in MENA+ as bidders circle BP’s Egypt assets and TAQA prints record blue bond

There was no real slowdown in dealmaking activity this week even as the conflict in the Gulf heated up again. Investment in energy and infrastructure leads the column, with international suitors reportedly kicking the tires on BP’s Egyptian gas assets, the Arab Energy Fund eyeing offshore and oilfield services outfit Maridive, and the UAE’s TAQA having just closed the largest blue bond ever in EMEA.

UP FIRST- At least four bidders are looking at BP’s West Nile Delta natural gas assets in Egypt as the British energy major presses ahead with plans to streamline its portfolio and cut debt, Reuters reports. Among those expected to make offers by the end of this week are private equity firm Carlyle Group, Energean, Dragon Oil, and Artemis Energy in the bidding process. BP produces about 60% of Egypt’s natural gas.

BACKGROUND- UK-based Energean tried last year to sell its assets in Egypt to Carlyle, which wanted to build an upstream platform with assets in Egypt, Croatia, and Italy, but the transaction fell apart on regulatory concerns. Dragon Oil is already present in Egypt through Gupco, and Energean also knows Egypt’s geology. BP is working through asset sales that could be worth as much as USD 20 bn by 2027.

Speaking of oil and gas: The Arab Energy Fund wants a fifth of Maridive. The Riyadh-based multilateral is readying a non-binding offer for 20% of EGX-listed Maridive & Oil Services at USD 0.65-0.72 per share, according to a regulatory filing (pdf). At the top end, that’s a more than 46% premium to the three-month average close and over 57% against the six-month.

IN CONTEXT- Maridive is a longtime player in the offshore industry, though it has in recent years lost luster to Egyptian upstart Ades, which is now owned by PIF.

TAQA has sold the largest blue bond ever issued in the EMEA region — a USD 750 mn, five-year private placement that’s also the largest blue bond issued globally by an integrated power and water utility, per a company statement. Standard Chartered was the sole placement agent. TAQA has now sold USD 2.6 bn in green- and blue-labelled bonds since 2023 and has put nearly USD 10 bn into energy-transition projects since 2021.

REMEMBER- Energy security and infrastructure are going to be big investment themes over the coming decade as the Arab world looks to build in redundancy and resilience after the US-Iran war, which has included Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure as well as desalination, water distribution, and wastewater treatment plants.

BACK TO EGYPT- The Madbouly government unlocked about USD 1.8 bn from the IMF yesterday after clearing the next-to-last review of its USD 8 bn program — USD 1.5 bn immediately available under the Extended Fund Facility, plus USD 272 mn under the separate Resilience and Sustainability Facility, Bloomberg reports. The board signed off after judging Egypt had made sufficient progress on selling state assets, saying Cairo had met the war “in a stronger macroeconomic position than during previous episodes of external stress.”

Carry traders have gotten the two things they wanted: Fresh hard currency on top of some EUR 1.5 bn the European Commission disbursed this month and continued signs that the EGP is moving in tandem with the big developments in the war, suggesting the central bank continues to keep its thumb off the scale.

MEANWHILE- S&P Dow Jones’ consultation on demoting Egypt from Emerging to Frontier status closes today, per a notice (pdf). The index provider credits Egypt’s progress on repatriation, lifting the special measures it imposed in May 2023, but says market accessibility, capital mobility, and institutional stability still fall short of the “emerging” bar. A demotion would take place in September 2027; Egypt would be about 3.4% of the Frontier benchmark, against just 0.12% of the Emerging index.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bought a 5% stake in Lucid Motors at the bottom of a bankruptcy scare, a regulatory filing shows. The stake purchase comes weeks after Lucid’s stock lost more than half its value in a single session on reports it had hired restructuring specialists AlixPartners. Lucid denied it was heading for bankruptcy.

Alwaleed holds about 5% of the company’s Class A shares with a stake worth c. USD 129.5 mn. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund holds just north of 45%.

Why it matters: PIF has put roughly USD 9.5 bn into Lucid since 2018, including a USD 550 mn convertible preferred placement in April and an USD 800 mn drawdown from a Saudi-backed facility since. Alwaleed’s stake is the first outside Saudi money into Lucid since the AlixPartners scare, which prompted speculation that PIF could cut Lucid loose as the fund focuses more on domestic opportunities.

What’s next: Lucid reports first-half results on 4 August — new CEO Silvio Napoli’s first earnings call, expected to address the production guidance suspended since May.

UAE sovereigns, lenders, and companies have sold USD 30.3 bn of USD- and EUR-denominated debt so far this year — up a third on the same stretch last year and USD 3.7 bn above the previous record, set six years ago, per Bloomberg. Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank, RAK Bank, Burjeel Holdings and the emirate of Ajman have all tapped markets in recent months, most oversubscribed.

Why it matters: GCC bond and sukuk maturities are expected to climb to a USD 143.1 bn peak in 2029, according to Kamco Invest data cited by Khaleej Times — and UAE banks alone owe USD 88.9 bn, the single largest sector-country exposure anywhere in the region. Borrowers are locking in cheap funding now before that wall arrives or war-risk repricing catches up with them.

Azimut just became Turkey’s largest private asset manager — and reopened the question of whether Yapi Kredi itself is for sale. The Italian wealth manager agreed to buy Yapi Kredi’s portfolio management arm for TRY 16.4 bn (USD 346 mn), Bloomberg reports, folding Yapi Kredi Portfoy’s TRY 1.21 tn in assets as of June into Azimut’s existing TRY 575.7 bn Turkish book to create the country’s second-largest manager, trailing only state-run Ziraat.

How it’s priced: The deal prices Yapi Kredi Portfoy at 7x its expected 2026 net income and comes bundled with a 15-year exclusive distribution partnership, giving Azimut a shot at more than 18 mn Yapi Kredi banking clients. Turkey is now Azimut’s third-biggest market globally, the firm said.

IN CONTEXT- Koc Group-controlled Yapi Kredi has been sale bait before — Abu Dhabi-headquartered FAB walked away from an estimated USD 8 bn bid for Koc’s controlling stake in 2024 after the sides couldn’t agree on valuation. Selling its most profitable unit now, Istanbul analysts told Türkiye Today, narrows the pool of buyers who’d still want the bank without its asset-management crown jewel.

UAE-based fintech Epic Markets secured USD 10 mn in a pre-seed funding round from London-based investor Karatage, according to a press release. Founded earlier this year, the Dubai-based startup is building a multi-asset brokerage platform targeting retail customers with institutional-grade trade capabilities and smaller retail investors — sounding a lot like Egypt’s Thndr X, which has a license to trade the ADX and which recently received in-principle approval for Saudi Arabia.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING TODAY-

Dubai Investments finalized the buyout of Clemenceau Medical Center Dubai (CMC Dubai), bringing its total stake to 100% after acquiring the remaining 80%, according to a DFM disclosure (pdf).

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) completed its full acquisition of Macquarie AirFinance (MAF) at an enterprise value of around USD 9 bn, according to a press release. The combined business now holds roughly 1k owned, managed, and committed aircraft worth USD 35 bn, making DAE the world’s third-largest aircraft lessor by fleet value and by number of owned and managed jets.

Fertiglobe is screening acquisitions in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Western Australia, and the US as it looks beyond its core ammonia and urea business, CEO Ahmed El Hoshy told AGBI.

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