Bond issuance + listings return to the Gulf even as delistings and court fights mount

Primary markets are reopening. First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mashreq are both testing five-year USD demand, DP World is on the road with a dual-tranche issuance, and Jio Platforms is putting the Gulf on the roadshow for a USD 4 bn listing. The traffic in the other direction is just as heavy: L’imad has all but locked in AD Ports' delisting, and in Amsterdam a Dutch minority investor is in court trying to stop Nassef Sawiris taking OCI off the market.

Three of the UAE’s biggest borrowers are out for USD paper. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) launched a five-year deal with initial price talk at 115 basis points above treasuries off its USD 30 bn EMTN program, and Mashreq mandated banks for a Reg S senior unsecured five-year off its USD 5 bn shelf, rated A (Fitch), A3 (Moody's), and A (S&P). DP World mandated a global roadshow for a dual-tranche issuance pairing EUR-denominated green notes with conventional USD notes, rated Baa2 (Moody's) and BBB+ (Fitch), both stable.

Watch where FAB’s opening spread landed. 115 bps over Treasuries is almost exactly on the UAE corporate USD curve as of 21 August, according to a Fitch report shared with us last month — wider than at the war’s peak in March (108 bps) and close to 50% wider than January’s 79 bps. Issuance is back ahead of pricing.

L’imad’s AED 7.8 bn buyback of AD Ports Group’s remaining minority stake has cleared every condition attached to it bar routine regulatory sign-off — and ADQ has locked in a settlement date no later than 9 October, according to a confirmed disclosure (pdf) disclosure to the ADX. That’s weeks ahead of the timetable ADQ set for itself: The offer document allowed up to three months after the tender window closes to declare the offer unconditional, and the window doesn’t shut until 3pm on 15 September. The sovereign investor is offering around AED 7.8 bn for the 24.58% of AD Ports it does not already own.

Why it matters: It’s the second big ADX name headed off the exchange this year, after Abu Dhabi Power Corporation (ADPC) squeezed out Taqa's remaining minorities and delisted the utility earlier this month.

Dutch investment company Value8 is asking the courts to freeze Cairo-born contractor Orascom Construction’s proposed merger with Dutch-listed OCI Global — both backed by Egyptian bn’aire Nassef Sawiris, according to a statement (pdf). The petition, filed with the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, asks that the transaction be kept off the ballot at any OCI shareholders’ meeting and seeks an investigation into how OCI has been run. The Enterprise Chamber froze the OCI-side vote in January over Sawiris sitting on both sides of the table, and installed two independent directors to police the process.

OCI says the petition has no merit, and that it largely recycles arguments already in front of the same court. Value8 wants a look at how Sawiris has gone about taking OCI off the Amsterdam market via a merger with a company he also controls, Dutch outlet De Aandeelhouder reported, citing financial newswire ABM Financial News.

Newly launched ADGM-based vehicle Creative Investments Holding is likely to target a heritage food brand as its first acquisition target, Leo Equities founder and CEO Mohamed Talaat Khalifa (LinkedIn) tells our Egypt desk, without naming the brand. The vehicle closed a USD 20 mn first tranche of a USD 50 mn round, according to a statement (pdf), with commitments still subject to definitive agreements.

The mandate: Controlling and strategic stakes in food, hospitality, fashion, and lifestyle businesses, with Egypt the primary market and the wider MENA region behind it. It’s a long-term holding vehicle rather than a fund on a five-year clock, with an IPO on ADX, Tadawul, or the LSE pencilled in five to seven years out. Khalifa, a former managing director of Concrete Fashion Group, is running the platform with Heba Makhlouf (LinkedIn), former CIO of EGX-listed developer Sodic, through Leo Equities — his investment arm.

Flynas is taking a stake in its own ground handler. The budget carrier will buy 10% of Swissport Saudi Arabia for USD 13.3 mn (SAR 50 mn) plus a small variable component, and has simultaneously signed a five-year agreement making Swissport its exclusive ground handler in the Kingdom, according to a Tadawul filing. The contract runs from March 2027 to March 2032, with a call option to double the stake to 20% on renewal. Swissport International and Oman's Asyad Holding are the sellers. Flynas has served notice on its current provider, Saudi Ground Services (SGS), effective March 2027.

Why it matters: SGS looked to have ring-fenced the Kingdom's aviation core only months ago, locking Saudia, Flynas, and Riyadh Air into multi-year contracts while foreign rivals like Swissport chased low-cost and foreign-carrier accounts like Air Arabia. Flynas moving its contract and buying into the operator breaks that grip. Swissport only picked up its Saudi ground handling licence last year.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING

Adia-backed Jio Platforms could start marketing a USD 4 bn IPO as early as next week, with the Middle East on the roadshow alongside the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, and London, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The Reliance digital arm cleared SEBI on 28 August and is targeting a November listing of up to 270 mn new shares — c. 2.9% dilution — with part of the proceeds earmarked for debt repayment.

International Financial Advisors Holding (IFA) has sold more than 30.3 mn shares in Boursa Kuwait-listed subsidiary First Takaful Ins. for c. KWD 8.5 mn (USD 27.6 mn), at an average 281.8 fils a share, Zawya reports. IFA held 53.5% of Kuwait’s oldest Sharia-compliant insurer at the end of 1Q 2026 and lists it as a long-term core holding.

Market Snapshot

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