Good morning, friends, and happy FRIDAY. We have a pretty busy issue to close out a busy week of news, and the dominant theme of the day? IPOs.

We have news of a strong DFM debut from Dubai’s Parkin, LuLu Group pursuing plans for a potential USD 2 bn IPO on the ADX, and IHC subsidiary 2PointZero looking to tap the Abu Dhabi bourse.

BUT FIRST-

MORNING MUST READ- Our first interview for our weekly My Morning Routine column at the bottom of the newsletter, where we look at how a successful member of the community starts their day — while throwing in a couple of random business questions just for fun.

For our special Ramadan edition, we also check in on how they adjust to Ramadan and what they look forward to in the holy month.

So, when do we eat? Maghrib is at 6:34pm in Dubai, and 6:37pm in Abu Dhabi. Fajr prayers are at 5:02am in Dubai and 5:07am in Abu Dhabi.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT-

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) customers have an extra month to pay off their personal finance installments without fees or extra charges after the bank offered a grace period during Ramadan, the bank said in a statement. Customers can push their payments via ADIB’s mobile app.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Dubai has approved AED 40 bn worth of public-private partnership projects (PPPs) for the next three years as part of its PPP strategy in its first Dubai Executive Council meeting since it was reestablished, according to the Dubai Media Office. The PPPs cover “ten fundamental economic sectors,” the statement says, without disclosing further details.

A framework to track PPP success: Dubai’s Finance Department has built a program to track and oversee the management of PPPs, executive director of the planning and general budget sector at the department, Arif Abdulrahman Ahli, said.

#2- Dubai will establish a new Environment and Climate Change Authority, with the goal of “[promoting] sustainable practices across sectors, [preserving] biodiversity, and [expanding] natural reserves and green spaces,” under new directives from Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, reports Wam. The authority will be tasked to help develop policies to mitigate climate change and boost food security, Wam said. Ahmed Mohammed bin Thani was appointed to head the authority as director-general.

#3- Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI’s takeover bid of the Telegraph is set to fall through after the UK published amendments to its legislation that effectively block foreign state ownership of media platforms in the country, the Financial Times reports. This follows UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer’s decision to refer the acquisition to an in-depth, months-long probe.

A sale could soon be on the cards: British newspaper publisher National World has “renewed” plans to acquire the magazine after the RedBird IMI bid fell through, Bloomberg reports. RedBird IMI has reportedly been considering a sale of the magazine, or a dilution of its stake.

Officials are concerned this could strain wider UK-UAE ties and hamper further UAE investments in the country, Bloomberg said, citing several government sources. Former advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his special envoy to the GCC, Edward Udny-Lister said the UK government should have sent the UAE signals earlier on their feelings about the acquisition rather than “[letting] it get to this stage.”

REMEMBER- Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala is mulling an investment in Heathrow airport, and the UK government has approached Abu Dhabi investors about funding the development of the Sizewell C nuclear facility in Suffolk, the Times reported earlier.

#4- Al Mal Capital’s real estate investment trust (REIT) has extended the subscription period for its tradable rights issue to next Friday, 29 March, according to a DFM disclosure (pdf). The trust expects to allocate the rights issue on 5 April, with trading of the new units expected to kick off on the Dubai bourse on 19 April.

Background: Al Mal Capital’s REIT said last month it would increase its capital by up to AED 440 mn through a tradable rights issue. If fully subscribed, the rights issue would see the fund raise its total capital to just north of AED 790 mn from AED 350 mn today.

#5- China’s largest internet firm, Tencent, is planning to increase investments in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with a focus on offering cloud storage to gaming and entertainment companies and offering computing power for AI applications, Senior Executive Vice President Dowson Tong told Bloomberg in Riyadh. Offerings could also include building an Arabic large language model. Investments are still at a “nascent stage,” he said, though he expects them to pick up quickly this year, noting that the company sees “a lot of potential” in this market.

The recently announced biofuels policy targets a 20% increase in biodiesel consumption by 2050, focusing on sectors like infrastructure, mobility, and manufacturing, Wam reported yesterday. This will lead to a 75% decrease in the carbon footprint of diesel cars, if drivers opt fully for biodiesel.

#6- The UAE could become one of Africa’s biggest FDI sources over the next five years, with investments focused on renewable energy, logistics, and agriculture, Bloomberg reports. The country made USD 44.5 bn in investment pledges across Africa last year, with key investments in Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, and other countries, with a focus on infrastructure development and resource extraction. The growth of UAE’s FDI presence in Africa had jumped two years ago, last year it was still comfortably in the double-digits, but the next two-to-three years we’ll see a return to growth in the thirties and above,” Standard Bank Group CEO Rassem Zok tells the business information service.

#7- The ADX and DFM benchmark indices could grow 15% in 2024 amid the “very supportive environment” and favorable global economic conditions, Al Ramz Corporation Research head Amer Halawi told Bloomberg (watch, runtime: 3:15). The upward projection is supported by the “phenomenal” 34% y-o-y increase in UAE firms’ 2023 aggregate income, Halawi said, expecting the energy, financials, and infrastructure sectors to continue being the top performers in 2024.

DATA POINT-

Dubai was the world’s largest market for luxury real estate in 4Q 2023, surpassing London, New York, and Singapore, with luxury property sales worth a total USD 1.81 bn, according to a recent report (pdf) by real estate consulting agency Knight Frank. The emirate saw 108 luxury properties valued at over USD 10 mn traded during 4Q alone (up 13.7% y-o-y), and made 384 luxury sales out of nearly 1.8k luxury sales globally throughout the whole of 2023. Luxury property sales in Dubai reached USD 6.7 bn in FY2023, according to the report.

The UAE ranked first in the region and 17th worldwide in the Human DevelopmentInsights ranking of the UNDP Human Development Index 2023/24 (pdf). The annual report provides a data-driven assessment of human development around the world.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Progress on Gaza ceasefire talks is leading the conversation in the foreign press, with the US calling for a vote today on a tougher UN resolution for “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” for a six-week period to allow humanitarian aid and protect civilians. The resolution marks the US’ toughest stance on Israel so far in the war, and comes following talks between Egypt, US and Qatar. (Reuters | France24 | The Guardian)

In the business press, an antitrust suit handed to Apple for its monopoly over the phone market by imposing limitations to trump its competitors is getting plenty of ink. (Reuters | CNBC | WSJ)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Bayanat AI and Yahsat are holding their general assembly meetings simultaneously on 25 April to vote on merging and forming Space42, an AI-powered space technology firm, according to a press release. Both companies’ boards unanimously recommended the merger to shareholders of the two entities last December.

RAK Energy Summit will take place from Wednesday, 27 November to Thursday, 28 November at Al Hamra International Exhibition and Conference Centre in Ras Al Khaimah, Wam reports. Sponsored by Etihad Water and Electricity, the two-day event will run under the theme “Create and Contribute to the Sustainable Energy Goals of the Future,” featuring panel discussions and networking sessions on accelerating sustainable energy deployment to advance the energy transition and meet net-zero targets.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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