More wins for ADGM, L’Imad and Adnoc make big infrastructure bets, and Aramco wants USD 10 bn from its real estate portfolio

Another week, another couple of wins for ADGM, which has been on a mission to show us all that global capital is still walking into the UAE, war or not. Also capping the week: A pile of M&A news, L’Imad and Adnoc going in on a big USD 30 bn infrastructure fund, Aramco’s USD 10 bn real estate play, and Cerebras’ big Gulf-backed Nasdaq debut.

UP FIRST: 10 solid international financial-services names have opened or expanded in ADGM over the past ten weeks, and another two in the DIFC. This week’s two additions in Abu Dhabi include Vista Equity Partners (which received full ADGM authorization) for its Al Maryah Island office. Partners Capital — running over USD 75 bn for institutions including Oxford and Cambridge, INSEAD, and the Guggenheim — also opened an Abu Dhabi hub.

They join big names including Bain Capital, Rokos, Barings, Hillhouse, Nubank, Capital Group, BNY, Man Group and others who have either hung out their shingles or announced expansions in the UAE in the past 10 weeks.

MEANWHILE- The UAE’s digital bank field is starting to gain momentum. The CBUAE has given in-principle approval to Omla Community Bank, a digital-first SME lender backed by Abu Dhabi Capital Group’s Alternative Venture Capital and Mint Gateway and headquartered in Umm Al Quwain, according to Wam. It joins Wio, Al Maryah Community Bank, and IHC’s Reem Bank.

AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems debuted on Nasdaq yesterday at USD 350 — an 89% opening pop on its USD 185 IPO price — and closed at USD 311.07, up 68%, for an implied market cap of around USD 95 bn, per CNBC and Bloomberg. The book was oversubscribed roughly 20x.

Why it matters: It’s the largest US tech IPO since Uber in 2019 and the biggest year-to-date anywhere in the world.

The UAE was an important backer of Cerebras before CFIUS-mandated restructuring forced G42 out in October 2025. Still, MBZUAI accounted for 62% of Cerebras’s 2025 revenues and G42 another 24%.

BlackRock’s GIP, Temasek, L’Imad, and Adnoc are teaming up on a USD 30 bn fund targeting energy, transport, logistics, and waste management across the GCC and Central Asia, raising a mix of debt and equity, Bloomberg and Reuters report.

Aramco is weighing a USD 10 bn-plus sale-and-leaseback of its real estate portfolio — among the largest single transactions in the company’s history — potentially including its Dhahran campus, Bloomberg reports. Look for the offering to be very attractive to both real estate and infrastructure funds.

Dubai Taxi Company (DTC) is acquiring rival operator National Taxi in an AED 1.45 bn (USD 395 mn) debt-funded transaction that will boost its Dubai market share to 59% from 47% and gives it a 12% share in Abu Dhabi, according to a press release (pdf) and separate disclosure (pdf). National Taxi generated a 13% net margin on revenues of AED 774 mn (USD 211 mn) in FY 2024-2025 and has a fleet of 2.7k vehicles across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

IN CONTEXT- DTC’s first major transaction since listing is part of a wider drive by state-owned entities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to consolidate their holdings into single, more efficient champions. Dubai Holding became the largest shareholder in Emaar Properties earlier this week, mirroring similar moves in Abu Dhabi by IHC, L’Imad, and Judan Financial.

Emirates Global Aluminium is in advanced talks for a stake in Oman’s Sohar Aluminium, Reuters reports. Sohar produces around 400k tons a year and is currently held by Taqa (40%), Oman’s OQ (40%), and Rio Tinto (20%). EGA could buy Taqa’s stake, Rio’s, or both, with OQ potentially upping its holding to preserve a domestic majority.

Abu Dhabi defense platform Edge Group signed to acquire a controlling stake in Italian propulsion specialist CMD, Wam reports, without disclosing the value of the transaction or the size of the stake. CMD makes propulsion systems and precision engine components for automotive, marine, and aeronautical applications; Edge wants to use it as the core of a “European propulsion hub” inside its localization push.

IN CONTEXT-The acquisition sits in a wider UAE defense industrialization drive shaped by repeated supply-chain shocks. As EY’s Malcolm Lyne told us, the UAE is “moving beyond just local assembly or procurement” toward “building capability and managing the end-to-end supply chain.”

Saudi-headquartered digital freight network platform Trukker closed a USD 300 mn cross-border securitization facility to finance expansion, including its digital freight network, it said in a statement. The non-recourse facility is backed by Trukker’s trade receivables across multiple markets and is structured across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — one of the region’s first multi-jurisdictional, asset-backed securitizations.

FOR NORMIES- A securitization is when a company packages a stream of expected future payments — here, customer invoices Trukker is owed across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — and uses them as collateral to borrow against today. The structure unlocks cheaper and larger funding than a regular corporate loan and doesn’t require the company to give up equity. “Multi-jurisdictional” means the receivables come from customers in more than one country — that makes it harder to structure and we’re taking it as a sign the asset class is maturing in the region. Expect more of these.

Sustainability-linked finance isn’t dead — yet. Emirates Islamic extended AED 250 mn (USD 68 mn) to Brands for Less in a sustainability-linked Shariah-compliant facility, per its release, while First Abu Dhabi Bank closed a USD 100 mn five-year sustainability-linked facility for Sharjah developer Arada, guaranteed by Italy’s export credit agency Sace, per its release. Arada’s spreads more than doubled to 707 bps two months ago — it is borrowing again now.

Also worth knowing this morning

Aldar bought a residential-and-retail community in Dubai Studio City from private developer SRG for AED 1.1 bn (USD 300 mn) — six mid-rise buildings, rental apartments, completion 2028 — per its disclosure (pdf). The Dubai pipeline is now over 2.3 mn sqm, financed in part by an AED 5 bn (USD 1.36 bn) sustainability-linked revolving credit facility in April.

Alameda Healthcare is mulling a 51% acquisition of Egypt’s International Eye Hospital from Lebanon-based private equity fund Euro Mena II, per the Arabic press. Euro Mena II bought in 2012. A long list of would-be buyers have had a look at International Eye Hospital since 2019, including TPG, Saudi’s Elaj Group (which already has a 15% stake), an unnamed UK fund, and a strategic last year.

India’s Manipal Hospitals begins formal investor marketing for its USD 1 bn-plus India IPO as early as next week at a USD 12 bn target valuation, per Bloomberg. Mubadala’s holds an 8% stake, with other investors including Temasek, TPG, and Novo Holdings.

Cairo-based Korra Energi will float 11% on the Egyptian Exchange as early as next month — the second Egyptian private-sector main-market IPO of the year after Gourmet, Prime Holding CEO Yasser Shahin tells EnterpriseAM. The Prime Capital-managed offer splits 60/40 between institutional and retail, with the founding family keeping a controlling 89% rather than selling down to the originally signaled 20%.

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