Adnoc, OMV make headway on Borouge platform

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Austrian natural gas firm OMV will begin to operate and market volumes from the new Borouge 4 (B4) complex in exchange for an at-cost fee, as they make headway on the merger of their polyolefins business, according to a statement.

Why it matters: By using an at-cost usage fee, the new group pockets an estimated USD 400 mn in net income over the next three years without having to secure the full acquisition of the complex from current owners, which is not expected before 2029, according to the statement.

REMEMBER- Adnoc and OMV last year agreed to merge their polyolefins businesses into Borouge Group International, a c. USD 60 bn platform combining Borouge, Borealis, and Nova Chemicals, with planned capacity of 13.6 mn tonnes across Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The merger is on track to be completed before the end of the month.

What we know: The agreement is expected to generate around USD 400 mn in cumulative net income over three years, lifting earnings by roughly 10% once fully ramped up. Borouge 4 is set to ramp up capacity through 2026, with plans to start it up this quarter.

Mubadala, KKR make whopping returns on sale of cooling infrastructure firm

Mubadala and KKR are making an almost USD 4.8 bn exit, after selling Canada-based cooling solutions player CoolIT Systems to US-based water systems firm Ecolab, according to a statement. The company focuses mostly on providing cooling infrastructure for data centers.

Mubadala’s role: The sovereign wealth fund acquired CoolIT Systems along with global investment firm KKR back in 2023 for only USD 270 mn. The ownership split of the agreement wasn’t disclosed.

Starlink is here

Starlink is now live in the UAE — and it is not just for edge cases anymore: SpaceX’s satellite-based internet network that beams connectivity from low Earth orbit satellites, Starlink, is now offering satellite broadband locally, Khaleej Times reports. Roaming prices start at AED 190 but the main barrier for entry when it comes to home internet is the hardware, which you’ll need to pay AED 1.1k upfront for.

REMEMBER- Starlink was first reported to be eyeing an Emirates entry last summer. Emirates Airlines are also set to roll out the service on their fleet.

What’s actually different about Starlink? This setup sidesteps local telecoms infrastructure entirely. That makes it useful in weak coverage zones or as a backup connection — but performance can fluctuate depending on weather, positioning, and network load.

Our take: The rollout comes at an opportune time given the current Iranian strikes on infrastructure in the Emirates. The hit to the Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE and Bahrain has made it abundantly clear that Iran won’t stop short of targeting different types of infrastructure across the Gulf during the war, from energy to telecoms and tech. That makes a connectivity option that sidesteps local infrastructure likely to prove popular or perhaps even essential for some as the duration and scope of the war remains uncertain.

Tags: