Qatar borrows at a war premium while QIA invests as if there’s none

Doha is borrowing at a war premium and investing like it isn’t. The sovereign’s new 10-year notes came 45 bps wider than November’s, with the half-year deficit already past the full-year budget projection. QIA spent the same week committing USD 20 bn to JP Morgan and sitting in the consortium that just cleared the last antitrust hurdle on Paramount’s Warner Bros. takeover.

Qatar raised USD 3 bn from its first public international bond sale since November 2025, pricing five- and 10-year notes tighter than initial guidance, as investor demand held up despite a fiscal squeeze tied to the Iran war. The Finance Ministry priced USD 1 bn of five-year notes at UST+55 bps and USD 2 bn of 10-years at UST+65 bps, inside guidance of 85bp and 95bp, on orders above USD 7.7 bn, MUFG Research said. The 10-year spread came 45 bps wider than last November’s sukuk at UST+20 bp.

The fiscal backdrop: Oil and gas revenue fell to QAR 874 mn in 2Q from QAR 32.7 bn (USD 9 bn) in 1Q as the Iran war hit Hormuz shipping, according to government estimates. The 2Q deficit hit QAR 21.2 bn (USD 5.8 bn), taking the half-year shortfall to QAR 31.5 bn, past the QAR 21.8 bn full-year projection.

QIA is putting USD 20 bn behind a single manager. The Qatar Investment Authority and JP Morgan Asset Management signed a multi-asset strategic partnership spanning public and private equities and credit. QIA is handing JP Morgan a USD 15 bn long-term public equities mandate, alongside a USD 5 bn private markets programme aimed at established US middle-market companies.

The Gulf’s USD 110 bn bet on US media has cleared its last big obstacle. Paramount has settled the US antitrust suit threatening its Warner Bros. Discovery takeover, Bloomberg reports. It agreed to an annual 30-film requirement, an extra USD 1.5 bn of US production spending over five years, and distribution agreements for its cable arms — among several terms struck with the California-led group of states.

PIF gets a US media foothold. The merger carries nearly USD 24 bn in commitments from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi’s L’Imad, and the Qatar Investment Authority, all of which are set to hold minority, non-voting stakes in the combined company.

Al Nassr is the next test of PIF’s football retreat. Cristiano Ronaldo and RedBird’s Gerry Cardinale are among five investors in talks to buy a stake at USD 100 mn-plus each, c. USD 500 mn, A Bola reports. Asharq Business says Ronaldo is invoking a contract clause giving him priority on 20% of the club. Sportitalia calls RedBird’s interest preliminary.

A Bola calls the headline figure a capital injection, not a price to PIF. With debt north of SAR 800 mn and a transfer freeze behind it, the club may need the money more than PIF needs the exit. PIF bought 75% of the Big Four in 2023 and has pulled back since: Sport is out of its 2026-2030 priorities and summer transfer spend league-wide fell to c. USD 57 mn from Deloitte’s USD 957 mn. That stake went to 100% in August, the tidy-up before the USD 320 mn Al Hilal sale.

XRG is shopping for a seat in one of the biggest LNG projects outside the Gulf. Adnoc’s international investment arm is evaluating a stake in Shell’s LNG Canada export project and has spoken to existing backers, including PetroChina, about buying part of their holdings, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter.

On the project: LNG Canada started up the British Columbia facility last year — a c. CAD 40 bn first phase with 14 mn tons of annual capacity, backed by Chinese, Malaysian, Japanese, and Korean investors. A second phase could be approved as soon as next month, Reuters reported last week, and PetroChina was said in July to be looking to sell down to help fund it.

BlueFive’s USD 3 bn defense fund is “ready to launch,” founder Hazem Ben-Gacem tells Semafor, five months after it was first flagged in April. He also confirmed a Jakarta office aimed at shariah-compliant demand across Southeast Asia, following last year’s Sidra Capital purchase, and said he is eyeing an agreement with one of the region’s stock exchanges to turn it into a venue for digital assets.

Why it matters: BlueFive has been among the region’s busiest dealmakers this year, war notwithstanding — its USD 3 bn Onyx tech fund closed just before the war started, on top of a 30% stake in Bugatti Rimac and backing for an Islamic digital bank. At USD 15 bn AUM, with royal families across the Gulf bar Qatar as founding LPs, it moves fast once it starts talking.

Adia is taking profit on Lenskart without leaving it. Its Platinum Jasmine A 2018 Trust may have offloaded 1.7% of India’s Lenskart Solutions in a block worth INR 20.4 bn (USD 213.8 mn), CNBC-TV18 reports, citing people it says are in the know. The trust held 9.77% as of 30 June, per NDTVProfit, after selling 2.3% in June at INR 490 a share for c. INR 19.6 bn (USD 205 mn).

Adia put in USD 500 mn for 10% in March 2023 — valuing Lenskart at c. USD 5 bn, against the c. USD 12.6 bn this block implies, by our math. Net income rose 270% y-o-y to INR 2.2 bn (USD 22.9 mn) in 1Q FY 2027 on revenue up 43% to INR 27.1 bn (USD 282.6 mn), and the stock is up 64.5% YTD since its weak debut last November.

ADQ is closing its AD Ports buyout two weeks early. L’Imad’s ADQ will hold 98.93% of AD Ports Group once the AED 6.25-a-share transaction settles this Friday, 25 September, pulled forward from 9 October after all conditions were satisfied, according to a bourse filing (pdf).

We reported last week that the tender took ADQ past 98.50%, on 23.08% tendered against an existing 75.42% — clearing the threshold to force out the rest under UAE takeover rules. The filing puts the final count at 98.93% without explaining the difference.

What’s next: ADQ has 60 days from settlement to apply for mandatory acquisition of the remaining 1.07%. Expect a squeeze-out notice shortly, then a challenge period, then delisting.

Mubadala is backing an Egyptian payments business at the scale-up stage. Cairo-born Paymob raised USD 35 mn in a pre-series C round co-led by Mubadala and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), according to a joint statement (pdf). The UK government’s British International Investment, Dubai-based Global Ventures, and DPI Ventures also took part. No valuation, stake, or comparison against Paymob’s last priced equity raise was disclosed.

Where it goes: Regional expansion across the core payments acceptance business and new products aimed at SME merchants and agentic commerce.

The EBRD is lending directly to our friends at EFG Holding for the first time. The bank is extending USD 40 mn to expand MSME financing through subsidiaries of EFG Finance, EFG’s NBFI platform, targeting businesses in rural areas outside major cities where finance is hardest to reach, according to an EBRD statement.

REMEMBER- EBRD has lent into EFG’s network for years without reaching the holding company — facilities to Bank NXT, Tanmeyah, and Valu, including a EGP 600 mn (USD 11.6 mn) loan in June for household solar and EV purchases.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING

Sharjah Islamic Bank completed a USD 500 mn no-grow five-year senior unsecured sukuk priced at 105 bps over US Treasuries, down from initial price thoughts, on a book 2.5x oversubscribed, according to a statement. The Reg S wakala paper sits under SIB’s USD 3 bn Trust Certificate Issuance Program and will list on Euronext Dublin and Nasdaq Dubai, Zawya reports.

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