Good morning, friends. Things have quieted down a bit amid a lull in business events, though don’t expect that to last too long with plenty of finance and investment-focused summits kicking off later this week.

The M&A theme continues in this morning’s issue, though we lead with one that has hit a snag — as an offer from 2PointZero-owned Sagasse Investments for Elsewedy Electric was rejected by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority.

Meanwhile, we have new data on the UAE’s hospitality sector in the year to August, which has seen a boost on the back of strong visitor numbers across both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

ALSO- Don’t miss this morning’s “coffee with” Mashreq Capital CEO Philip Philipides, who tells us all about what’s exciting him about the burgeoning local asset management industry.

WEATHER- Temperatures are continuing to cool down, with Dubai seeing a high of 34°C and an overnight low of 27°C, while Abu Dhabi will see a high of 34°C and a low of 25°C.

Emirates cargo plane crashes: An Emirates cargo aircraft coming from Dubai crashed at Hong Kong International Airport after colliding with an airport patrol vehicle and plunging into the sea, the Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department confirmed yesterday. Two airport security officers in the vehicle died, but all four crew members of the plane, wet-leased from Turkish carrier ACT Airlines, were unharmed, the New York Times reports. The plane was not carrying cargo at the time.

The story is everywhere in the foreign press: Reuters | BBC | CNN

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- ADCB sets subscription window for AED 6.1 bn rights issue: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) will open subscriptions for its AED 6.1 bn rights issue from 18 November to 4 December 2025, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf). Eligible shareholders as of 7 November will receive one right for every 12.36 shares held, tradable on the ADX from 10-24 November.

ICYMI- ADCB’s general assembly approved the capital increase last week, with backing from its largest shareholder, Mubadala, which will fully subscribe to its entitlement. The bank will issue up to 592.2 mn new shares at AED 10.3 each — a 30% markdown to its 4 September close — to support growth and maintain buffers above new regulatory requirements. The rights issue will boost its share capital to AED 7.9 bn, up from AED 7.3 bn.

#2- California-based AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems is expanding its operations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman told Semafor. Cerebras plans to increase its 18-strong UAE headcount to around 50 engineers by next year, with new hires focused on systems and hardware integration. The company is also eyeing 40 MW of computing power in the capital — enough to power some of the world’s fastest supercomputers.

ICYMI-Just last week, Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman said the firm was planning to deploy its infrastructure in the UAE, beginning with “megawatts worth of equipment” for the Stargate UAE campus. Cerebras was also reported to be in talks with G42 about computing capacity for its 5 GW UAE-US AI Campus.

Washington’s lingering export controls are a major caveat: Feldman told Semafor he expects the Trump administration to eventually finalize a framework to approve AI chip exports to allies like the UAE, calling it “very much in the US interest” to deploy American computing infrastructure across the Gulf and Asia.

REMEMBER- Abu Dhabi AI giant G42 has held a 1% stake in Cerebras since 2021 and also agreed to buy USD 335 mn worth of non-voting shares in the chipmaker earlier this year.

#3- Archer’s air taxi launch delayed? Archer Aviation’s planned launch of passenger air taxi services in Abu Dhabi this year is likely to be delayed to 2026, as its Midnight electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft still awaits approval from the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the process. The certification — the first for a passenger aircraft in the UAE — is taking longer than expected, pushing back the company’s commercial rollout. A reason for the delay wasn’t specified.

REFRESHER- Backed by Abu Dhabi Aviation and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Archer Aviation has already completed test flights of its four-passenger Midnight model in July, and chosen one route between Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah and Abu Dhabi. The company is also developing the UAE’s first hybrid heliport at Zayed Port with AD Ports and Falcon Aviation, alongside a planned vertiport network linking both cities.

REMEMBER- Dubai is also set to see flying taxis in its skies as early as 2026, after saying it is on track to launch its first vertiport at Dubai International Airport by 1Q 2026 earlier this year.

#4- London art dealer opens regional HQ in Dubai: London-founded art trading firm Baldwin Fine Art Acquisitions is setting up its regional operations in Dubai as part of its expansion, according to a press release (pdf). The statement said the new office will serve as the company’s hub to cater to GCC clients, according to its website.

Baldwin Fine Art Acquisitions? Founded in 2019, Baldwin Fine Art Acquisitions has traded more than 5k artworks by over 150 international artists, and also supplies galleries, dealers, and auction houses globally.

REMEMBER- The UAE has a burgeoning art dealing scene: UK auction house Sotheby’s is launching its first auction series in Abu Dhabi in December this year, after Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ last year made a USD 1 bn investment to acquire a minority stake in the firm, alongside majority owner Patrick Drahi.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- Global Food Week is starting today and will run until Thursday at the Adnec Center in Abu Dhabi. Experts and industry leaders from the agriculture, food manufacturing, food security, and hospitality sectors will meet for discussions, exhibitions, and networking sessions focusing on showcasing solutions to improve global food security and sustainability. Last year’s event saw AED 6.2 bn worth of agreements signed.

#2- The Healthcare Future Summit is also on from today until Thursday at the Dubai World Trade Center. The summit will bring together healthcare professionals, industry leaders, and researchers to discuss the landscape of vaccine development and global disease control. Discussions will cover vaccine formulations, cancer research and therapeutic vaccines, antimicrobial resistance, measles, and the role of AI in vaccine innovation.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

#1- The Reuters NEXT Gulf Summit is taking place tomorrow at The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi. The summit will bring together regional and global leaders and firms to discuss challenges and prospects facing Gulf economies in areas including geopolitics, banking and financing, and AI and technology.

#2- The Alternative Investment Summit is running tomorrow and Thursday at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, gathering asset managers, private equity firms, and institutional investors to discuss developments, market trends, and evolving regulatory frameworks in investment.

#3- The World Investment Conference and Sharjah Investment Forum are running from tomorrow until Friday at the Jawaher Reception and Convention Center in Sharjah, bringing together policymakers, investors, and multilateral institutions for over 60 workshops and conference sessions to discuss investment solutions, with this year focusing on SMEs, AI, and youth entrepreneurship.

#4- S&P Global’s annual Islamic Finance Conference is happening on Thursday at the DIFC Atrium in Dubai.The conference brings together industry leaders, regulators, and investors to discuss the future of Islamic finance. The event will focus on the global outlook for the sector with sessions exploring growth investments, structural challenges, and the GCC’s changing capital markets.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Topping business headlines internationally this morning is Amazon Web Services’ outage yesterday, which lasted about 15 hours before operations were restored to normal. The outage — which was caused by a database malfunction — impacted thousands of websites and applications, including Venmo, Snapchat, and Zoom. It was the largest internet crash since CrowdStrike’s last year, and the largest for AWS since a previous crash in 2021. (Bloomberg | Reuters | Wall Street Journal | AP)

ALSO- Stock markets across the world are getting attention amid several stock rallies:

  • The S&P 500 rose 1% as earnings season rolls in, boosted by Apple’s shares hitting an all-time high on the back of strong sales momentum for its iPhone 17. (Bloomberg | Reuters)
  • Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose more than 1% to an all-time high, as the country awaits a parliamentary vote which is likely to see Sanae Takaichi become the country’s next prime minister (and its first female PM). (CNBC)

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