AD Ports to go private as L’imad consolidates again

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: Modon seeks EGP 35 bn loan for Ras El Hekma’s Wadi Yemm + dnata wants in on Damascus airport’s rebuild

Good morning, everyone. L’imad is back at it again with its consolidation strategy, as AD Ports heads towards full private ownership. The sovereign wealth fund’s tender for the remaining stake pulled in acceptances covering 23.08% of the company, pushing ADQ’s holding past 98.5% — comfortably clearing the threshold to squeeze out what’s left, in a near-identical playbook to L’imad's earlier Taqa takeover.

On the regulatory front, ADGM is proposing an annual fee on owners who leave commercial plots undeveloped, as it looks to make idle land work amid a tight real estate market.

PLUS- The CBUAE hiked interest rates in step with the Fed, which hiked its base rate for the first time since 2023. The UAE’s central bank hiked the base rate applicable to the Overnight Deposit Facility to 3.9%, it said in a statement. The interest rate applicable to borrowing short-term liquidity was unchanged at 50 basis points above the base rate.

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The UAE wants off the travel advisory lists

The UAE is pushing to get itself off international travel advisory lists just as Dubai’s tourism numbers have posted their sharpest rebound since the Iran war began, on the back of a full conference schedule, Bloomberg reports. International overnight visitors to the city hit 869k in August — the highest since February — while hotel occupancy climbed to 66%, up from a war-battered 36% in March, according to government figures released this week.

Lifting the warnings would ease the ins. costs keeping long-haul carriers away, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing Issam Kazim told Bloomberg at the Arabian Travel Market conference. Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths told the business news service in June that insurers are still struggling to price the region at all. Meanwhile, non-Gulf carriers have absorbed USD 70k to USD 150k in extra charges per flight into the region, the Financial Times reported earlier this year.

Many international airlines have delayed their return to the UAE due to ongoing regional escalation, with US embassies across the Middle East warning citizens earlier this month that airspace closures, flight cancellations, and other travel disruption remain possible. The EU’s aviation safety regulator, EASA, has also renewed its Gulf conflict-zone advisory, telling airlines to steer clear of airspace over the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar through Wednesday, 30 September.

Bankrolling Wadi Yemm

Abu Dhabi developer Modon Holding is seeking a EGP 35 bn (USD 672 mn) syndicated loan to help fund infrastructure in Ras El Hekma’s Wadi Yemm, the first district of the Egyptian North Coast megaproject for which Modon has been appointed master developer, Asharq Business reports, citing two sources it says are familiar with the matter. FAB Misr is arranging and managing the facility, with local lenders and UAE banks operating in Egypt expected to participate, one source said.

IN CONTEXT- Modon has tendered more than EGP 80 bn in utilities, infrastructure, and residential construction work within Wadi Yemm to date, according to the sources. The district — a coastal zone within the USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma masterplan — will feature residential units, hotels, two golf courses, a country club, and a 10k-seat open-air theater. Contracted sales reached around EGP 65 bn in the first eight months of 2026, the news outlet reports, citing data from The Board Consulting, pushing cumulative sales since the October 2025 launch to roughly EGP 144 bn.

Modon has drawn a steady run of contractors this year: Orascom Construction landed an EGP 15 bn package in January; a Rowad Modern Engineering-CCC consortium secured an EGP 10 bn roads and utilities package, and Hassan Allam was tapped to build the Montage Hotel & Branded Residences, both in July; and a Redcon Construction-Innovo consortium was awarded a c. EGP 12 bn package last week.

Dnata wants in on Damascus airport’s rebuild

Dnata is pushing an exclusive contract to manage and operate services at Damascus International Airport, Al Bayan reports, citing CEO Nabil Sultan. The UAE-based aviation services provider has sent a delegation to Damascus to discuss potential investments and an operating model with Syrian officials.

BACKGROUND- The airport is already in for a major redevelopment: A consortium led by Qatar’s UCC Holding signed final concession agreements last November covering the development, expansion, and operation of Damascus International Airport. The USD 4 bn project aims to increase capacity to 31 mn passengers annually through phased terminal upgrades and new facilities, including cargo centers.

Syria is part of a broader expansion push targeting developing markets in the Middle East and Africa, with dnata eyeing potential investments that offer long-term growth, Sultan added. The strategy also includes an Azerbaijan cargo venture targeting a 2028 launch. The company also plans to establish a cargo services company at an unnamed new airport there, aiming to position it as a hub for freight moving between East Asia — particularly China and Vietnam — and Eastern Europe.

Flydubai pushes past 100 aircraft

Flydubai is adding more aircraft to the mix: Dubai-based carrier flydubai will take delivery of 11 additional Boeing 737 Max aircraft in 2026 — seven 737-9 Max jets and four 737-8 Max jets — taking its fleet past 100 aircraft, Wam reports. The new aircraft will replace older jets while giving the carrier more flexibility to expand its network, increase capacity on existing routes, and support future growth.

The fleet is getting an upgrade too: The carrier is kicking off a retrofit program this month covering 21 Boeing 737 Max jets, replacing recliner Business Class seats with lie-flat seats and installing larger overhead storage over the next 12 months, The National reports.

IN CONTEXT- Flydubai is expanding capacity across both cargo and passenger operations. The carrier has restored operations to around 85% of its network and will launch its first dedicated freighter operations on 1 October with three wet-leased Boeing 737-800 freighters. The move will add dedicated cargo capacity alongside the belly-hold space available on its passenger fleet.

PSA

WEATHER- The temperature is more of the same in Dubai, with highs reaching 40°C today, while Abu Dhabi is set to see a high of 41°C, and both emirates will see a low of 31°C, according to our favorite weather app.

Happening today

The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry is wrapping up a three-day trade mission to South Korea today, where it led a delegation that included representatives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Hub71, and Emirates Global Aluminium, according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office. The two sides were looking for collaboration windows on sectors like AI, advanced manufacturing, energy, space, water, and healthcare.

Any outcomes would build on an existing USD 65 bn pipeline that was agreed upon in February, centered on a USD 35 bn defense MoU. Beyond defense, AI was cited as a key collaboration sector back in February — with Mubadala’s USD 30 bn pledge being refocused toward areas like AI, nuclear energy, and advanced tech — as well as during the recent meetings. South Korea produces around 20% of the world’s semiconductors and is also pushing AI services at no cost to its population to avoid overdependence on AI tools from the US and China.

The big story abroad

News of the Fed’s rate hike is all over the front pages today. We dive into the decision, as well as its rationale and wider context in Planet Finance below.

In the AI world: Crux AI, the joint cloud venture launched by Alphabet and Blackstone, has secured USD 22 bn in debt financing from a 10-bank syndicate that includes Goldman Sachs and Barclays. The venture — which aims to bring its first 500 MW of capacity online next year — reflects a broader surge in AI infrastructure spending, where tech firms are raising bns of USD to fund data center construction to keep pace with soaring compute demand.

Atomic power behind AI revolution on hold? Nuclear energy player Holtec International has put its IPO plans on hold as a “perfect storm” affects the AI industry, company CEO Kris Singh said. The company — which has expanded into restarting a dormant Michigan nuclear facility and developing small modular reactors — had planned to raise USD 900 mn this week, while the US nuclear sector lines up tens of bns of USD to back the AI boom.

Major defaults in Turkey: Istanbul-based asset manager Tera Portfoy Yonetimi announced that two of its funds, managing USD 7.5 bn in assets, were unable to process investor redemptions. This news follows a default just one day prior by fellow Turkish manager Pusula Portfoy Yonetimi, which helped trigger a 7.7% plunge in the Borsa Istanbul 100 Index — its sharpest single-day loss since March 2025.

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AD Ports on course for delisting as L’imad acquires additional 23.08% stake

Nearly the entire freefloat of AD Ports Group just tendered into L’imad’s buyout, and ADQ is now set to own more than 98.50% of the company — comfortably clearing the threshold to force out what’s left. AD Ports Group said in an ADX disclosure (pdf) yesterday that ADQ — the L’imad Holding subsidiary running the AED 6.25-a-share tender — had received acceptances covering 23.08% of the company’s shares as of close of business on 15 September, on top of the 75.42% it already held.

That’s about 94% of the shares ADQ didn’t already own. The offer covered as much as 24.58% of AD Ports Group — 23.08% of that came in, leaving just 1.50% of the company outstanding. That answers the freefloat question we flagged earlier this week: how many minority holders would follow IHC-controlled Al Seer Marine, which sold its stake to ADQ at the offer price before the tally closed.

Why it matters: Every substantive condition on the offer is now cleared bar routine notifications to the Securities and Commodities Authority and the ADX. Settlement — payment plus the share transfer — is due no later than 9 October, the date ADQ locked in last week.

SOUND SMART- UAE takeover rules allow a bidder holding 90%+1% or more of a company’s share capital to apply to the regulator for a mandatory acquisition — a squeeze-out that forces remaining holdouts to sell at the offer price. ADQ’s 98.50% is well past that line.

What’s next: ADQ can now apply for a mandatory acquisition of the remaining 1.50% within 60 days of settlement, taking AD Ports Group fully private.

REMEMBER- This is the second time this year L’imad has walked this exact path. The company’s utility arm Abu Dhabi Power Corporation lifted its stake in Taqa to 98.12% in a roughly AED 21.6 bn share purchase in June before invoking the same mandatory acquisition mechanism to squeeze out the rest, as we reported at the time. Taqa’s shares came off the ADX earlier this month.

ADVISORS- Rothschild & Co Middle East is financial adviser to ADQ, while Allen Overy Shearman Sterling is providing counsel. Emirates NBD Capital and FAB are joint lead managers, EFG Hermes UAE is co-lead manager, and Emirates NBD Bank and FAB are joint lead receiving banks.

ADGM proposes new rules to increase commercial land usage

ADGM is proposing an annual fee on owners who leave commercial plots sitting vacant — a direct response to idle land at a time when Abu Dhabi’s Grade A office market is running low. ADGM’s Registration Authority said in a consultation paper (pdf) that without rules forcing action, undeveloped plots risk sitting idle indefinitely, which it warned could hurt “the continued growth, attractiveness and development of the ADGM ecosystem.” Comments are open until 4 October 2026.

Why it matters: The timing isn’t incidental. We’ve been reporting on Abu Dhabi’s tight commercial real estate market — particularly in terms of Grade A space — for a while now.

What they’re proposing: Owners get a six-month grace period to apply for a building permit once a plot is classified “undeveloped.” Miss that, and a fee set at 2% of the plot’s fair market value applies immediately. After the permit is issued, it’s a three-step sequence: submit the building permit to the registrar within seven days; file a Notice of Commencement within 30 days of that; break ground within 60 days of the Notice of Commencement — around three months after permit issuance. Once construction starts, any unexplained stoppage of 90-plus consecutive days re-triggers the fee unless the registrar is notified within 14 days.

The fee is not a one-and-done. It applies for as long as the plot stays non-compliant, with the valuation reassessed annually through ADGM’s own system if the plot is still undeveloped 12 months on. Owners can contest the valuation with an independent assessor within 30 days of being notified.

Metito lands contract for Dubai South sewage plant, Aldar + Mubadala buy further into Masdar City, Mubadala-backed Caturus LNG facility is getting bigger

Metito lands ops and maintenance contract for Dubai South sewage treatment plant

Metito Utilities picked up the operation and maintenance contract for Dubai South’s sewage treatment plant, awarded by Dubai World Central Corporation, the water management solutions provider said in a LinkedIn post. The plant, near Al Maktoum International Airport, treats 10k cbm a day — modest next to the 56k cbm a day PPP plant Metito already runs at Dubai Investment Park.

BACKGROUND- Metito is one of the region’s oldest water names, split into three standalone units after a December reorganization. Metito Utilities handles concessions and long-term O&M, and its UAE track record includes MENA’s first PPP wastewater plant at Dubai Investment Park and the roughly USD 2.3 bn Adnoc/Taqa seawater treatment project in Abu Dhabi — its largest job to date.

Aldar, Mubadala buy further into Masdar City

Aldar and Mubadala Investment Company acquired Masdar City Square for AED 918 mn, expanding the real estate portfolio held through their joint venture established in 2024, according to a press release. The transaction takes the partners’ combined portfolio in Masdar City to AED 4.7 bn — with greater exposure to income-generating real estate tied to the city’s expanding tech, research, and sustainability infrastructure.

REMEMBER- In April, the JV partners acquired The Link in Masdar City, a mixed-use development housing the headquarters of renewables firm Masdar and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. The companies started their AED 30 bn JV in 2024 with the aim of developing AED 3 bn worth of commercial and residential properties in Masdar City.

Mubadala-backed LNG facility is getting bigger

Mubadala-backed gas and energy firm Caturus is planning a 7.75 mtpa expansion of its Commonwealth LNG export facility in Louisiana, adding five trains and taking planned capacity to about 17.25 mtpa — almost double the original project, according to a press release. The expansion comes just four months after Caturus reached a final investment decision on the six-train, 9.5 mtpa base project and closed USD 9.7 bn in project financing.

First the plant, then more gas: Construction of the base project is progressing on schedule, with operations targeted for 2030. About 8.5 mtpa of its capacity is already covered by long-term sale and purchase agreements — with Commonwealth LNG as a larger piece of its integrated wellhead-to-water gas platform.

Mubadala’s link: The sovereign wealth fund took part in a USD 9.65 bn financing package for the platform in May as part of a broader push into USD energy assets. Other UAE players are also in on it, with Adnoc lining up tens of bns of USD for a US gas push.

Fed hikes rates for the first time in three years

The US Federal Reserve unanimously voted to raise its key benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2023, hiking it by a quarter point to 3.75-4% as it looks to rein in inflation, according to a statement. This is Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s first hike since taking over the central bank in May, and it sets up a test for his relationship with US President Donald Trump, who has spent months publicly pushing the Fed to cut.

The move was widely expected, with a Financial Times poll showing 50 out of 51 economists chose a raise as the best option — most favoring the 25 bps move, though 14% argued the war’s escalation warranted a bigger hike of 50 bps.

The White House wasted no time reacting. On Fox News, just after the announcement of the rate hike, spokesman Kush Desai called it “a rather unfortunate decision by the Federal Reserve” that was “not, from the administration’s point of view, backed by a particularly compelling economic case.”

The rationale: New global tariffs, energy shocks from the regional war, and heavy AI-related capex have kept price pressures elevated: headline CPI rose 3.4% year-on-year in August, and the Fed’s own updated forecasts now put headline PCE inflation at 3.7% for the year, with core PCE at 3.4% — both nowhere near the 2% target. The median FOMC dot doesn’t see 2% being reached until 2029. Warsh said inflation has been “too high ... for too long” at his post-decision press conference.

Key context: Earlier this week, 10-year US Treasury yields surged past 5% to reach levels not seen since the 2008 financial crash, underscoring the friction between heavy global sovereign debt and surprisingly durable economic expansion. Leaving rates unchanged when the market heavily anticipated a move would have pushed bond yields even higher, former Pimco co-chief exec Mohamed El Erian said.

REMEMBER- The last meeting saw the Fed hold its benchmark rate at 3.5-3.75% for the fifth time in a row, with three regional Fed presidents voting in favor of a 25 bps raise. At the time, analysts had priced in a hike for September after the regional war slashed predictions of a cut sometime this year.

What’s next: The dot plot suggests the Fed isn’t done this year — 16 out of 18 officials (Warsh again declined to submit a projection) penciled in at least one more hike in 2026, with four of them seeing two more, while two expect the Fed to stop here. That tracks with a pre-meeting UBS note expecting a second 25 bps hike in December — though the bank flagged that a cooling in six-month annualized inflation toward 2.5% by year-end could still prompt a holdoff.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian stocks edged higher in early trading, as Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi rose around 0.3%. Meanwhile, US equities fell across the board after the Fed’s decision to hike rates.

ADX	10,114	-0.2% (YTD: +1.2%)
DFM	5,967	+0.7% (YTD: -1.3%)
Nasdaq Dubai UAE20	4,948	+0.5% (YTD: +1.2%)
USD : AED CBUAE	Buy 3.67	Sell 3.67
EIBOR	3.4% o/n	4.8% 1 yr
TASI	10,780	-0.0% (YTD: +2.8%)
EGX30	52,823	-0.2% (YTD: +31.0%)
S&P 500	7,552	-0.5% (YTD: +10.3%)
FTSE 100	10,688	+0.3% (YTD: +7.6%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,267	+0.5% (YTD: +8.1%)
Brent crude	USD 105.83	-2.7%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.89	+0.1%
Gold	USD 4,313	-1.7%
BTC	USD 75,937	+0.0% (YTD: -13.7%)
Lunate JP Morgan UAE Bond UCITS ETF	AED 3.59	+0.0% (YTD: -6.0%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	148.59	-0.1% (YTD: -2.2%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	17.71	+3.0% (YTD: +18.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.2% yesterday on turnover of AED 879.2 mn. The index is up 1.2% YTD.

In the green: Rapco Investment (+8.3%), Union Ins. Company (+6.3%), and Invest Bank (+5.9%).

In the red: Oman & Emirates Investment Holding Co (-4.9%), Ins. House (-4.5%), and Gulf Cement Co. (-3.9%).

Over on the DFM, the index rose 0.7% on turnover of AED 882.7 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai was up 0.5%.

CORPORATE ACTIONS

Emaar Properties’ board approved a one-time AED 4.4 bn dividend payout, equivalent to AED 0.5 per share, on top of its regular annual dividend, according to a disclosure (pdf). The decision is awaiting shareholder approval, with a payment date set to follow.

The developer posted AED 11.1 bn in 1H net income, up 25.6% y-o-y, on the back of a strong property sales backlog and stable occupancy across its income-generating assets.

CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER

14-17 September (Monday-Thursday): Arabian Travel Market, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

17-19 September (Thursday-Saturday): International Real Estate & Investment Show (IREIS), Adnec, Abu Dhabi.

18-19 September (Friday-Saturday): EuroLeague Basketball SuperCup, Etihad Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

22-23 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): ACT Middle East Treasury Summit, Grand Hyatt, Dubai.

28-29 September (Monday-Tuesday): Al Ain Future Business Forum, Adnec, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi.

29-30 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): AFCM Annual Conference, Abu Dhabi.

OCTOBER

1-2 October (Thursday-Friday): MEIRA Annual Conference, Atlantis the Royal, Dubai.

4-10 October (Sunday-Saturday): World Space Week, Abu Dhabi.

5-7 October (Monday-Wednesday): AI Everything Global, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

12-14 October (Monday-Wednesday): Airport Show, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

14-15 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Sharjah Investment Forum, Jawaher Reception and Convention Center, Sharjah.

13-15 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, Dubai.

20-22 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Future Health Summit, Adnec Center Abu Dhabi.

21 October (Wednesday): Reuters NEXT Gulf, St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Arab Competition Forum, Dubai.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

30 October (Friday): Large businesses achieving annual revenues equal to or above AED 50 mn must appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation.

Signposted to happen sometime in October 2026:

Abu Dhabi Space Week, Abu Dhabi.

NOVEMBER

2-6 November (Monday-Friday): Dubai Future Finance Week, Dubai.

4 November (Wednesday): Digital Transformation Summit, Sofitel, Abu Dhabi.

9-10 November (Monday-Tuesday): Annual government meetings, Abu Dhabi.

9-12 November (Monday-Thursday): EMEA Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education Conference, Dubai College of Tourism, Dubai.

9-13 November (Monday-Friday): World Congress of Military Medicine, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

10-12 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Dubai International Electric Vehicle Exhibition & Conference, Dubai World Trade Center.

16-18 November (Monday-Wednesday): World Police Summit, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

18-19 November (Wednesday-Thursday): Touchdown Middle East 2026, Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.

25-26 November (Saturday-Sunday): Doers Summit, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai.

DECEMBER

2-4 December (Wednesday-Friday): UN Water Conference, UAE.

4-6 December (Friday-Sunday): Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Abu Dhabi.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Capital Market Summit, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Water & Power Week, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday) Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association Show, DWC, Dubai Airshow Site.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2027:

1 January: Deadline for large businesses to implement e-invoicing;
1Q 2027: Completion of the first phase of Hassyan seawater desalination project;
1-3 February (Monday-Wednesday): World Governments Summit;
31 March: Small businesses with annual revenues of less than AED 50 mn are obliged to contract with an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
31 March: Government entities are required to appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
21-22 April (Wednesday-Thursday): Token2049, Dubai;
31 May-2 June (Monday-Wednesday): RailX Dubai, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.
1 July: Deadline for small businesses to implement e-invoicing;
1 October: Deadline for governments to implement e-invoicing;
Abu Dhabi’s solar and battery energy facility, combining 5.2 GW of solar capacity and 19 GWh of battery storage, is set for commissioning.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2028:

Artificial Intelligence Summit.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2029:

Sibos 2029 organized by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), Dubai;
Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi;
The commissioning of the seventh phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

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