THIS MORNING: MGX raises USD 49 bn + UAE-Iran trade is back

Good morning, friends, and happy Thursday. More debt is once again the headline of our issue this morning, with Mashreq and Rakbank adding their names to a UAE issuance ledger that's starting to look less like a rush and more like a stampede. Between them and Dubai Islamic Bank (twice), FAB (also twice), and Burjeel, that's six note sales in a matter of weeks.

The news that made us do a double-take this morning: a building materials company is now in the juice business. Bildco — yes, the Abu Dhabi outfit that pours concrete for a living — just bought half of a Dubai produce-and-juice trader. Your latest sign that food security diversification is having a moment.

WATCH THIS SPACE- Keep an eye on how long contractors can keep absorbing that 20-25% jump in imported material costs. Moody's says the pipeline is holding “for now” — and credits developers’ resilience to rising costs and the buffers they’ve built for it.

Also on deck today: BlueFive is back, this time closing out a cross-border tie-up we first flagged last September, which sees its asset management arm take a stake in Sidra Capital, Al Murjan’s Jeddah-based Islamic asset manager specializing in private assets, and together launch a combined platform targeting shariah-compliant investment products.

Thaw at Jebel Ali?

Direct cargo shipping lines between the UAE and Iran have resumed the same week that flights restarted between the two countries, after months during which bilateral commercial ties had effectively stalled. Iran’s Trade Development Organisation Logistics Director-General Ali Emami confirmed the resumption of shipping activity to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, saying that “trade relations are returning to normal.”

That’s big: The UAE — Jebel Ali in particular — is the dominant re-export gateway for Iranian imports of intermediate goods, raw materials, and equipment. When that corridor went dark during the conflict, Iranian importers were rerouting through Oman and Turkey at higher costs and longer lead times, and cargo was sitting stranded at Jebel Ali.

Commercial tracks are moving in step with the diplomatic ones. The resumption comes as the US and Iran are scheduled to hold talks in Doha this week — and as the UAE and Iran seem to have agreed their commercial relations are important enough to warrant an attempt to get ties back on track, with recent talks taking place between UAE and Iranian officials, and no attacks on the UAE since May, despite sporadic attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait over the past few weeks.

The AI megafund is real

MGX confirmed in a statement that it closed the near-USD 50 bn fundraise we reported last month, saying it brought in USD 49 bn for its AI investment vehicle — surpassing its initial USD 45 bn target. The vehicle, which is one of the largest dedicated AI investment vehicles ever assembled, drew institutional and private capital from the Gulf, North America, Asia, and Europe to invest across semiconductors, AI infrastructure, enabling technologies, and platforms.

It lands amid a record AI funding rush: AI companies have raised USD 416.6 bn so far this year — nearly double the total raised in 2025, CNBC reports, citing Dealroom. The raise also marks an unusually large third-party fundraising push for Abu Dhabi, whose state investors have traditionally deployed government capital.

The capital is already moving: MGX has backed 14 companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI before its SpaceX merger, and is exploring a multi-bn-USD acquisition of Singapore-based data-center operator DayOne. It plans to deploy up to USD 10 bn annually and is also expanding its physical infrastructure footprint, including through an AI campus in France with Bpifrance and Mistral.

Settle before you litigate

DIFC Courts is offering companies a cheaper route to settle commercial disputes through a six-month mediation program with The Mediation Hub MENA, a DIFC-based nonprofit promoting mediation across the UAE and wider region, according to a press release.

How it works: Eligible businesses in the UAE and abroad will receive a complementary one-hour consultation with a registered mediator and 50% off the Mediation Service Center’s administration fees if they proceed. Sessions can be held virtually or in person, with settlements formalized and enforced through DIFC Courts where applicable.

What it covers: The program targets disputes over contracts, payment terms, operating costs, and supply-chain pressures, particularly where parties want to preserve a business relationship or keep an existing contract running. It runs through 31 December.

The UAE has been rolling out multiple new avenues for dispute resolution, including for commercial disputes in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, for family business disputes in Abu Dhabi, as well as a rental dispute resolution center in Ajman.

AED 18 bn growth push

Dubai has approved AED 18 bn of projects spanning transport, trade, culture, investor services, and workforce development, according to a Dubai Media Office post on X. The headline project is a 15-km elevated corridor along First Al Khail Street, running parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road and expected to reduce traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road by 51% during peak hours, according to state news agency Wam. Construction will start in 3Q 2027 and end in 4Q 2030.

Also in the pipeline: A real-time population census after Dubai’s population topped 4.58 mn at end-2025; a unified investor register covering the emirate and its freezones; a private-education strategy targeting 3k jobs for Emiratis by 2033; new customs and culture strategies, with further details undisclosed; and a global center for technology and innovation in Islamic finance.

PSA

Brace for crowds this month at DXB… Around 3 mn passengers are expected to pass through Dubai International Airport in the first half of July, with daily traffic regularly topping 200k and 12 July set to be the busiest day at more than 225k travelers, state news agency Wam reports. Departures will begin surging today as residents head off for the holidays, while transfer passengers are expected to account for around half of total traffic.

WEATHER- The mercury hits 41°C in Abu Dhabi, before cooling to 30°C, while Dubai will see a high of 40°C and a low of 31°C, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

Global dealmaking is running at its fastest pace in years: Goldman Sachs data show global M&A reached USD 2.8 tn in 1Q 2026, up 49% y-o-y, fueled by the rise of AI and US President Donald Trump's administration’s easing of antitrust guardrails. US transaction value jumped 77%, barely dented by the war, while Europe's transaction volumes fell 14.2%, which dealmakers attribute largely to the war's fallout.

Gulf entities are riding that wave too: Transaction value involving Gulf entities nearly tripled in 1H 2026 to about USD 300 bn, pushing Wall Street firms to bolster their regional teams, Bloomberg reports.

Speaking of AI: Washington lifted the export controls it slapped on Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 just three weeks ago over security concerns — though the fight over how to regulate frontier AI is only getting started, the Wall Street Journal writes.

On the war front, two days of talks in Doha ended with no real progress — negotiators spent the session re-litigating issues both sides had already claimed to resolve in the interim agreement two weeks ago, chiefly Hormuz shipping and Iran's frozen funds. The next round waits until after Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral on 9 July. Iran still says it'll start tolling ships through Hormuz from mid-August, and oil hit a four-month low.

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