THIS MORNING: Not one, but two potential India plays from Adia, Emirates NBD

Good morning, friends. It’s been a slow week for developments on the ground, but the backdrop keeps doing the work for us: UAE markets have closed lower in every session this week, with the ADX and DFM sliding again on Tuesday as the exchange of fire between Washington and Tehran intensified around the Strait of Hormuz, and as two of the UAE’s own tankers were targeted last night.

The Hormuz story took a turn overnight. Trump has dropped his 20% “reimbursement fee” on cargo transiting the strait — the one he floated Monday — and says he’ll take trade and investment agreements from Gulf states instead. “Those Investments will be MASSIVE,” he posted, without naming a single commitment.

Incidentally: UAE capital flowing into the US is one of our headlines this morning, as ePointZero closes its USD 2.3 bn acquisition of stakes in two major US gas pipelines.

Also on deck today: The UAE’s crypto boom has a fraud problem to match its growth (today’s Big Story), Dubai Islamic Bank’s 2Q barely moved, Adia takes a slice of India’s SBI Funds ahead of its IPO, and reports of Emirates NBD potentially circling IDBI again.

Buying the fee pool

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) just took a slice of India’s biggest asset manager. SBI Funds Management allocated 46.4 mn shares worth INR 26.63 bn (about USD 279 mn) to anchor investors ahead of its USD 1 bn IPO, according to a filing (pdf). Adia, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, and BlackRock funds each bought 1.6 mn shares (about 3.4% of the anchor book) at INR 574, the top of the IPO price band, while Singapore’s government was allocated 2.7 mn shares.

ICYMI- We reported earlier this week that Adia had joined a more than 20x-covered anchor book alongside GIC, Norges, BlackRock, Fidelity, Capital Group, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The offer is entirely an offer-for-sale by State Bank of India and Amundi, meaning SBI Funds itself will not receive fresh capital from the listing. It runs until 16 July, with the stock expected to list on 21 July.

Why it matters: This gives Adia a liquid stake in India’s household-savings boom. Mutual funds now account for around 10% of Indian household financial savings — twice their share a decade ago — with SBI Funds managing around USD 131 bn in average mutual fund assets and holding a roughly 15% market share, according to Global SWF.

The investment is the latest in a much broader Adia push into India. In the past few months alone, it committed around USD 675 mn to a Kotak real estate fund, backed Rajasthan-based KRN Heat Exchangers’ USD 36.8 mn QIP, and participated in Acme Solar's USD 328 mn equity raise.

IDBI, take two

Is Emirates NBD back in the running for IDBI? That’s what Reuters is suggesting, although Bloomberg reports it might have already lost the bid despite sweetening its offer this time around. Canada’s Fairfax Financial, which has been in the running for the combined 60.7% stake in IDBI held by the government and state-run LIC, is close to receiving approval from India on a possibly sweetened bid, the business news service reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter. Reuters says the process is expected to wrap within a month.

IN CONTEXT- India shelved the sale in March after bids from Emirates NBD and Fairfax fell short of the government’s price expectations, but it restarted the process this month. The privatization push began in 2022, while LIC has controlled IDBI since 2019 after stepping in to rescue the lender.

Why it matters: If Emirates NBD manages to get in on the bid, a stake in IDBI would offer it even more scale in India’s tightly guarded banking market, after it completed, a few weeks ago, its USD 2.8 bn acquisition of a 60% controlling stake in RBL Bank — India’s largest-ever FDI in its banking sector.

A tale of two coasts

Egypt’s tanks draw more Emirati interest: Fujairah International Oil and Gas Corporation is in talks with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to lease crude and petroleum-products storage on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. This is the second time in recent months that an Emirati entity has made a move like this — AD Ports made a similar pitch for Red Sea storage back in April. The targeted facilities, capacity, and commercial terms were not disclosed.

Why it matters: The interest tracks the scramble for storage west of Hormuz. Disruption in the strait is pushing Gulf producers and traders to secure alternative routes and storage outside the waterway — and Egypt is positioning to catch that flow. It has around 29 mn barrels of spare storage across its main ports, part of an infrastructure base of 19 commercial ports (14 under development), and nearly 79 petroleum storage facilities built or upgraded in recent years. In March, it put up 10 storage facilities at Ain Sokhna and Ras Badran for lease to monetize that spare capacity.

Now both coasts: Fujairah is already on the Mediterranean side. It’s partnering with Wepco on a USD 457 mn expansion of Al Hamra Port, set to double crude storage to 5.3 mn barrels from 2.5 mn and add a 130k-ton petroleum-products complex.

PSA

Emirati retirees and Nafis beneficiaries just got a better shot at qualifying for loans: The Etihad Credit Bureau has expanded its Individual Credit Report to include verified pension income from the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) and eligible Nafis financial support alongside salary data, giving banks a fuller income picture to work with when assessing credit applications, state news agency Wam reports.

WEATHER- It’s a sweltering day, with the mercury rising to 45°C in Dubai and 44°C in Abu Dhabi. Expect a low of 33°C in both emirates.

Destination Sahel is back for a second edition — and this year, it's not just about the beach.

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are pouring billions into the North Coast, Gulf buyers keep showing up despite regional headwinds, and a new 400km master plan could reshape the whole coastline before summer’s out.

Over this season’s series, stay tuned to see who's really buying Sahel, where the money's coming from, and what could still go wrong.

Plus, the hotels, restaurants, and openings worth checking out this summer.

Tap or click here to subscribe to the Egypt edition, coming out today in your inbox.

The big story abroad

International dailies have their hands full with geopolitical and business updates this morning. Here are the biggest developments.

Trump withdraws Hormuz cargo tax: Pressure from Gulf states prompted US President Donald Trump to walk back his proposed 20% fee on cargoes transiting the Strait of Hormuz, announcing that it would be replaced by direct Gulf investments in the US. The US military confirmed that its naval blockade on Iran took effect yesterday and that it launched fresh strikes on the Islamic Republic.

That’s not all — the US is also leading talks to revive a long-defunct Iraq-Syria oil pipeline to circumvent the Hormuz bottleneck and undermine Tehran’s leverage over global energy supplies. Washington is in talks with Baghdad, Damascus, and Chevron.

OpenAI’s first device will be an AI companion — a mobile, screenless speaker designed to answer questions, play media, and help control smart-home appliances. The product is still under development and is intended to be personalized and proactive, used primarily in users’ homes.

Could drugs be a new frontier for AI? Startup Chai Discovery, which specializes in using AI to pioneer new drugs, has secured USD 400 mn in fresh funding, valuing the company at USD 3.8 bn. The company also works with established pharma giants to help them to become post-AI companies, founder and president Jack Dent said.

US writers object to Warner Bros takeover: The Writers Guild of America has become the latest in a long line of challengers to Paramount’s Gulf-backed USD 110 bn acquisition of Warner Bros, insisting that the merger will harm competition and film and television writing quality. This week, 12 US states filed an antitrust lawsuit on similar grounds.

And over at the World Cup, Spain bested France 2-0 last night, marking its second time to book a spot in the tournament’s final showdown. They will play either Argentina or England in Sunday’s final in New Jersey.

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