#1- UK-listed John Wood Group CEO and board director Ken Gilmartin (LinkedIn) will step down following the upcoming shareholder vote on the company’s takeover by Dubai-based Sidara, which will take place on 12 November, the company said in a statement. Interim CFO Iain Torrens (LinkedIn) will assume the top role upon Gilmartin’s departure, while the search for a new CFO is underway.

REFRESHER- Sidara agreed last month to acquire Wood Group in a GBP 216 mn transaction, including a USD 450 mn capital injection to stabilize the debt-laden firm. The transaction — expected to close in 1H 2026 — will see Wood become Sidara’s energy and materials division while retaining its brand. The takeover was a long time in the making, with talks and various bids being offered for over a year.

The story got ink in Reuters and Bloomberg.

#2- Talabat taps new CEO following resignation: Tomaso Rodriguez (LinkedIn), Talabat Holding’s chief executive officer (CEO), has resigned from his position after six years in the role, effective from 20 November, according to a DFM disclosure (pdf). The executive will continue to serve the company as a member of the board, as part of a planned leadership transition. Rodriguez will be succeeded by Toon Gyssels (LinkedIn), who will be returning to the company as CEO, as of 21 November.

The returning CEO: Gyssel’s previous four-year tenure at the firm included serving as chief operating officer (COO) and later as interim CEO. He most recently served as COO at cloud kitchen unicorn Kitopi and also headed up its OnDemand unit, and previously worked at McKinsey & Company prior to joining Talabt.

#3- Shuaa Capital CRO exec resigns: Dominik Piotr, Shuaa Capital’s chief risk officer (CRO), has resigned after just one month in the position, citing personal reasons, according to a DFM disclosure (pdf). Piotr will continue in his role until his notice period finishes at the end of this month. The Dubai-based investment platform had also recently tapped new heads of marketing and investor relations, as well as asset management.

#4- Dubai appoints new assistant secretary general to Executive Council: Dubai Crown Prince and Executive Council Chairman Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum appointed Sabah Salem Al Shamsi (LinkedIn) as Assistant Secretary General for Government Communication and General Secretariat Affairs, state news agency Wam reports. The appointment took effect on 1 October 2025.

#5- Adia Lab adds two Nobel laureates to advisory board: Abu Dhabi-based computational science research institution Adia Lab has appointed Robert F. Engle, the 2003 Nobel laureate in economics, and Sir Konstantin Novoselov, the 2010 Nobel laureate in physics, to its advisory board, according to a statement. The additions bring the board’s total membership to 12 global experts.

Who they are: Engle, a professor at NYU Stern, developed the ARCH model that transformed modern financial econometrics, while Novoselov, director of the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials at the National University of Singapore, is best known for co-discovering graphene.

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