Build in India, finish in the UAE

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: L’imad set to be main driver of Hormuz bypassing + EGA shifts more exports to the east coast

Good morning, everyone. It’s the first of the month — fuel prices have moved, and we hope you beat the queue at the pump.

In today’s issue, we delve into how Indian conglomerates are increasingly treating the UAE not as a pass-through for trade and finance, but as an operational base for finishing, customizing, and distributing goods — even as manufacturing stays in India or shifts to Saudi Arabia.

PLUS- The Hormuz bypass plan keeps gaining momentum, as L’imad is set to take the lead on plans worth tens of bns of USD for Hormuz-bypassing port infrastructure. Emirates Global Aluminium, meanwhile, is shifting more of its aluminum exports to the east coast through a new Gulftainer agreement.

There are several firsts in today’s issue as well. Arada is planning its first development project in Abu Dhabi, through an AED 15 bn partnership with Aldar spanning a new villa community at Seih Sdeirah and three residential plots on Yas Island, and AIQ is set to enter India’s oil and gas market.

We’re honored to welcome Ahmed M. Sobhy as a guest speaker at the 2026 EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum.

Ahmed Sobhy currently serves as deputy CEO at E-Finance for Financial and Digital Investments (EFIG), overseeing the investment and finance divisions with a focus on the company’s growth and expansion into new business areas.

Prior to this role, Sobhy served as chief investment officer at Banque Misr, leading the bank’s equities and capital markets investments, including a private equity portfolio valued at USD 3 bn, and playing a pivotal role in the bank's transformation and fintech expansion over nearly six years. Before that, he was Investment Principal at Ezdehar Fund Management, where he led several acquisition and exit transactions, including the strategic minority stake in Dsquares.

Earlier in his career, Sobhy was vice president in the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley & Co., leading M&A transactions exceeding USD 31 bn across the UK, US, and Egypt, and held roles at Swicorp across the MENA region.

Registration is now closed. Thank you to everyone who registered. We look forward to welcoming you on Monday, 5 October.

Flydubai issues statement on diverted Tel Aviv flight

A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia yesterday after an “altercation” on the plane’s flight deck, a spokesperson said in a statement. Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737, diverted to Tabuk after transmitting a 7500 transponder code, which signals “unlawful interference,” according to Flightradar24 data cited by Gulf News. The airline confirmed that on-duty crew aboard the flight secured the aircraft before landing safely in Tabuk.

What we know: All passengers and crew are safe and accounted for, with two replacement aircraft sent to relieve them, and the incident hasn’t affected other scheduled flydubai operations. “At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation. We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts,” the airline said.

A budget + vehicle for Zero Hormuz?

Abu Dhabi's newest wealth fund is set to become the main vehicle for routing the emirate’s trade around the Strait of Hormuz. L’imad Holding is likely to spend tens of bns of USD on new port infrastructure outside the strait, focused on Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter. The emirate calls the strategy “Zero Hormuz.” L’imad has already moved to take AD Ports private, saying the group’s next phase would be “complex, capital-intensive and long-term.”

Abu Dhabi has also been looking outward for third-party capital, with the sources saying the emirate doesn’t want to foot the bill for the expansion on its own. That’s why the USD 30 bn infrastructure partnership with BlackRock’s GIP, Temasek, and Adnoc matters, and why L’imad Capital is preparing to raise third-party money as early as next year, as we reported yesterday.

Speaking of the east coast…

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is shifting more of its exports to the UAE’s east coast, clear of Hormuz. A new agreement with Gulftainer allows EGA to ship up to 250k tons of aluminum in the first year and as much as 300k tons in the second, the company said in a statement. Volumes could grow after that, with Gulftainer expanding port capacity to keep pace.

This solves EGA’s shipping problem, not its production one. A new route gets metal out, but it doesn’t bring the Al Taweelah smelter back to full output. EGA has said shipments won’t return to pre-strike levels until the strait reopens, though other corridors will reduce its reliance on the waterway over time.

Other UAE exporters are heading east too: AD Ports and Borouge agreed in May to explore building an alternative petrochemicals export hub on the UAE’s east coast. In July, Gulftainer announced a USD 2 bn investment across Khor Fakkan and its inland network. The company could absorb up to 90% of the UAE’s container demand if the strait is blocked again, CEO Farid Belbouab said at the time.

BACKGROUND- The agreement caps months of workarounds for EGA. The company halted outbound UAE shipments in March after Iranian strikes knocked out production at its Al Taweelah smelter. The company then planned to truck aluminum to Sohar for export and bring alumina feedstock back the same route. EGA’s aluminum sales fell 32% in 1H to 939k tons amid production disruption and logistics constraints, with the firm having since found alternative routes. The smelter is a quarter of the way back: EGA has restarted 315 of Al Taweelah’s c.1.3k reduction cells as of late August, up from 89 in early July, and is targeting full production in 1Q 2027. Its alumina refinery is running at about half capacity.

Momenta puts Dubai on the robotaxi map

Chinese autonomous-driving company Momenta Global is set to bring robotaxis to Dubai next year, part of a wider push that also includes new European cities, Reuters reports. Backed by Mercedes-Benz, BYD, and Toyota, the firm currently has more than 100 robotaxis deployed across three countries and is testing vehicles in Abu Dhabi, Munich, and five Chinese cities. It’s targeting a global fleet of several thousand robotaxis by the end of 2027, up from a few hundred by year-end.

Losing momentum? Despite raising USD 751 mn in a Hong Kong IPO in July, Momenta’s shares have cratered 45% since then as it remains unprofitable, choked by a sizable R&D cashburn.

Any entry into the UAE would see the firm face stiff competition from those already in the market. China-headquartered WeRide has already rolled out robotaxis in Abu Dhabi and is now looking to start an autonomous public transport bus service, while Baidu has started a driverless taxi service in Dubai.

UAE, Oman talk de-escalation and security

UAE National Security Advisor Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Muscat yesterday to meet with Oman’s Prime Minister Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, according to an official statement. During talks, the two discussed efforts to de-escalate regional tensions through diplomacy and safeguard national security.

AIQ comes to India

AIQ is the latest UAE player to ride the most recent wave of UAE-India collaboration. Adnoc’s JV with Presight is set to enter India following a recent agreement to expand into the country’s oil and gas market, Reuters reports, citing AIQ CEO Dennis Jol. AIQ first started taking its energy-focused AI software global earlier this year, launching pilot programs and commercial outreach in several countries.

The game plan: The JV is working with a local oil and gas player — as yet unspecified — and will roll out its tech across the conglomerate’s refineries, digital stores, and gas stations. Indian oil and gas players Adnoc has existing ties with include the Indian Oil Corporation, with which it’s inked a 15-year sales agreement, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation through a 10-year sales and purchase agreement, and Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves.

Bilateral ties have been on a roll in recent weeks, with the UAE lining up another USD 25 bn in investments for India, following the USD 25 bn deployed so far as part of a broader USD 100 bn plan. Energy supply chains were also flagged as a point for future collaboration during a bilateral task force meeting.

Consider them merged?

Paramount’s L’imad-backed USD 110 bn merger with Warner Bros. Discovery can now proceed, after a California federal judge approved an agreement settling a challenge brought by 12 state attorneys general, Bloomberg reports. The transaction could be finalized within days, per regulatory disclosures.

ICYMI: The antitrust suit filed in July claimed the acquisition would harm competition, cinemas, television distributors, and audiences. Paramount settled the challenge last week with commitments to release 30 films a year, invest an extra USD 1.5 bn in US production over the next five years, and establish new cable distribution agreements.

PIF clinches US media foothold: The merger is backed by nearly USD 24 bn in commitments from Abu Dhabi’s L’imad, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and the Qatar Investment Authority. The Gulf funds are set to hold minority, non-voting stakes in the combined company.

The Gulf’s sovereign funds and largest companies are committing billions to AI infrastructure at home and to AI companies in the US and beyond. EnterpriseAM AI + Innovation reports on where that capital goes, who controls it and what it is actually buying.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we also cover the startups and established firms across MENA putting AI to work, and how it is changing jobs, education and the way business runs.

It’s sharp, analytical and skeptical journalism that ignores hype and is laser-focused on informing our readers, not pleasing our sources.

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PSA

Prices at the pump are heading higher again in October, marking the third consecutive monthly increase, according to an Emarat X post. The latest hike follows increases of around 6% for petrol in both August and September, after July’s brief price cut. This time, petrol is seeing a sharper jump, with all three grades rising around 16% m-o-m:

Super 98 rises to AED 4.40, up from AED 3.80 in September (+15.8%);
Special 95 rises to AED 4.28, up from AED 3.69 (+16.0%);
E-Plus 91 rises to AED 4.21, up from AED 3.61 (+16.6%);
Diesel rises to AED 4.80, up from AED 4.30 (+11.6%).

And that matters for inflation: We reported earlier this month that Dubai transport prices rose 12.7% y-o-y in August, as fuel and lubricant costs climbed 31.3%, prompting Emirates NBD to lift its year-end inflation forecast to 5.6% from 2.9%.

WEATHER- The temperature is more of the same in Dubai, with highs reaching 41°C today, while Abu Dhabi is set to see a high of 40°C, as both emirates see lows of 30°C, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

US President Donald Trump has revealed plans for South Korea to invest around USD 200 bn in US energy projects, including eight nuclear power plants and a 6-GW energy facility in Texas. The plans include a USD 54 bn pipeline for the Alaska LNG project, which would carry natural gas to a liquefaction facility for shipping to Asian markets — though Seoul cautioned that the pipeline project would proceed only if certain commercial and legal conditions are met.

Bond market turns back the clock: The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose by more than half a percentage point in September to 5.3%, its highest level since 2007, as US government bonds posted their worst month in four years. Investors warn the market is caught in a “vicious loop” of selling — a sell-off initially driven by US public debt and inflation concerns has pushed yields to levels that force some funds to sell Treasuries, sending borrowing costs even higher.

And in the AI world: As Google begins its rollout of its flagship AI model — Gemini 4 Argon — some of its employees are reportedly questioning its efficacy, Bloomberg reports, citing people with direct access. Despite strong benchmark scores, the model struggles with certain tasks when put into practice, the people said. However, a Google employee familiar with the model's development said there is "large consensus" internally that Gemini 4 is at the frontier, and Google said it would be inaccurate to say the model underperforms in areas such as coding.

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Build in India, finish in the UAE, localize in Saudi: India Inc.’s new Gulf playbook

Long treated by Indian conglomerates as a convenient pass-through for trade, finance, and re-exports, the UAE has taken its seat as a full-fledged operational base they can no longer ignore. But the UAE isn’t securing that role by being where Indian companies build things — it’s doing so by being where they finish, customize, and get things to customers. Each function in the value chain lands wherever its economics make sense, and that’s increasingly the UAE for logistics and customer-facing work, even as manufacturing stays in India or moves to Saudi Arabia instead.

Mumbai-based Apar Industries, India’s largest transformer-oil manufacturer, offers one clear example. It built a 30k sqm plant in Sharjah’s Hamriyah Freezone for localized blending, storage, and delivery — supporting more than 100k tons in annual sales and a reported 70% share of the GCC transformer-oil market. But its next move didn’t add more UAE refining capacity: in June, Apar partnered with Saudi Aramco’s Luberef in Yanbu to secure upstream feedstock, keeping only regional customization and sales execution in its UAE subsidiary. Apar didn’t relocate to the UAE, and it isn’t relocating to Saudi either — it split one value chain by function, tying feedstock sourcing to Saudi’s oil infrastructure while keeping blending, customization, and GCC-wide distribution in the UAE.

Why the UAE keeps winning the logistics-and-customization layer

The UAE is not necessarily the cheaper manufacturing location — India continues to hold the cards in large-scale manufacturing, labor, and supplier networks, Samriddhi Vij, associate fellow for geopolitics at Observer Research Foundation Middle East, tells us. “The UAE’s comparative advantage is about reducing the friction between production and the customer” through ports, customs infrastructure, industrial freezones, and international connectivity, Vij says. Jebel Ali alone provides direct trading links to over 150 ports globally.

“The increasingly compelling model is India plus the UAE — India’s scale of manufacturing while utilizing UAE for goods that serve regional consumers, particularly for final processing, customization, and inventory,” Vij explains.

The economics tilt toward a UAE operation on the back of shorter lead times and lower inventory requirements, even if standalone production costs are not lower, argues Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, senior economist at Chintan Research Foundation. India brings scale and depth, while the UAE brings “much more friendly arrangements” for customer proximity, logistics, and financial infrastructure, Secretary General of the Indian Business & Professional Council in Dubai Sahitya Chaturvedi tells us.

That’s the trend we’ve been tracking: Indian label iD Fresh Food — bound for a USD 1 bn IPO next year — operates a food processing facility in Ajman with its manufacturing base in India while planning a second factory in Sharjah. JSW Cement signed an agreement for a USD 39 mn cement grinding unit in Fujairah just last month to feed regional construction demand.

“The Hormuz crisis [also] hastened the process” of Indian firms expanding their operations in the UAE, Mukhopadhyay tells us. Today, India’s private sector needs the Emirates for regional market access and processes including stocking, customization, testing, after-sales service, project management, and selective manufacturing, he notes.

Where Saudi’s localization drive pulls the other way

That same freight math cuts the opposite way once a market gets big enough. ID Fresh — the same company anchoring its Gulf manufacturing in Ajman — is now building a second plant in Riyadh, with Kuwait and Bahrain set to follow. “When you have scale, it is better to manufacture locally. You can save transportation costs and inventory as well,” PC Musthafa, the company’s global CEO, told EnterpriseAM previously, pointing to a Saudi market he estimates at three to four times the size of the UAE’s. It isn’t a retreat from the UAE plan — Ajman remains the manufacturing base and the Sharjah expansion is still going ahead — it’s the same “function follows economics” logic, just applied to a market with enough scale to justify its own dedicated plant rather than serving it from next door.

The pull isn’t limited to manufacturing, either. “Saudi Arabia’s localization push could pull some Indian manufacturing into the Kingdom, particularly where the customer is Saudi Aramco, a Saudi ministry, or a major Saudi infrastructure program,” says Vij. UAE facilities tend to serve the broader GCC, African, and Asian markets, while Saudi facilities serve domestic demand. “The optimal location follows the economics of the value chain, not national boundaries,” Vij argues — a petrochemical input tied to Saudi feedstock favors Jubail, while machinery or electrical equipment for multiple GCC and African markets favors the UAE.

VA Tech WABAG shows that the pull reaches engineering and services work too. The Chennai-based water tech firm — which operates a Dubai Airport Freezone branch and projects spanning Ajman, Yanbu, Bahrain, and Kuwait — has established its regional hub in Riyadh rather than the UAE, Rohan Mittal, the firm’s head of strategy and business growth for GCC, tells us. The move is part of the company’s “strategy to progressively localize [its] capabilities and services in the GCC,” he says.

The scale argument applies here too. Of the five projects Mittal named to us, three are in Saudi Arabia (a 300 MLD desalination plant in Yanbu, a 50 MLD brackish-water facility in Al Jouf, and the Hadda wastewater treatment plant) against one each in the UAE and Kuwait. “Saudi Arabia will remain our largest focus market, supported by Vision 2030, and one of the world’s most ambitious water investment programs,” Mittal tells us.

Footprint ≠ factory

Saudi and UAE operations can be complementary, taking up different roles within a firm’s regional strategies, Chaturvedi says. Vij sees the UAE even retaining an advantage for regional headquarters, trading, and multi-market inventory management, simply because of its geographical advantage.

In the UAE’s favor: The UAE’s population centers, ports, and freezones sit clustered on a single stretch of coastline, with Jebel Ali, Dubai’s airports, and Dubai Airport Freezone (Dafz) all within a short drive of each other. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, at roughly 25 times the UAE’s land area, has its commercial and political center in Riyadh sitting hundreds of kilometers inland from either coast. A regional base in the UAE can reach the rest of the GCC, East Africa, and South Asia without the longer overland legs a Saudi-based hub would need. That compactness is what lets a single UAE presence double as warehouse, assembly point, and distribution base for a dozen different markets at once.

That compact footprint doesn’t have to mean a factory. “When the point of export is India, there is always a concern about whether products will be delivered on time. Even under normal operating conditions, delivery commitments from Indian ports, cities, and suppliers can be an area of concern,” Chaturvedi points out. For large projects, shipping directly from India can create uncertainty around arrival times, making regional inventory and local delivery capabilities valuable, he notes — capabilities grounded in warehousing and logistics contracts rather than production lines.

The challenge

A UAE footprint does not automatically mean resilience. A factory that relies on imported inputs moving through vulnerable maritime routes simply relocates the bottleneck, argues Vij. The next phase for Indian manufacturers will be less about adding capacity and more about building capabilities around: “critical-input inventories, multiple suppliers, alternative ports, and viable overland routes,” Vij says.

The UAE is already moving that way itself. The country’s “Zero Hormuz” plan aims to cut reliance on the Strait of Hormuz — where movement has slumped to a trickle since the regional war began — by expanding its east coast infrastructure and overland routes. The plan includes expanding the eastern ports of Fujairah, Khor Fakkan, and Dibba, building at least one new harbor and a container and multipurpose terminal at Fujairah. Etihad Rail has also launched a direct freight line connecting Abu Dhabi to the port — and new road links are meant to stitch the east coast into a single overland corridor that never has to touch the strait.

That infrastructure will take years to fully mature — but the reasons Indian companies keep choosing the UAE in the first place don’t depend on the strait staying open. Proximity to customers, faster inventory cycles, and easier regional coordination are advantages that Saudi’s localization pull hasn’t displaced and Hormuz disruptions haven’t erased. That’s why the Gulf country looks set to stay central to how Indian industry organizes across the Gulf, regardless of which function sits where.

CBUAE brings down GDP growth outlook to 1.6%

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has shaved another 0.1% off its real GDP growth outlook for this year, after its July prediction of 1.7% marked a sharp drop from its April forecast of 5.6%. Now, the central bank sees real GDP growth coming in at 1.6% this year, it said in its quarterly report (pdf).

According to the CBUAE, state measures are driving a large part of the growth. It cites its own resilience package to help insulate lenders from the effects of the war, alongside AED 2.5 bn in support rolled out by Dubai authorities to shield more exposed sectors, as underpinning the growth outlook for the Emirates. Importantly, the central bank’s measure will be wearing off soon, with analysts telling us the main risk sits in the medium term for now, especially for firms reliant on global supply chains.

However, 2027 is looking up: The CBUAE sees GDP growth jumping to 10.4% in 2027, up from its previous prediction of 9.8% in July, supported by a solid macro backdrop and fiscal and policy buffers.

On the inflation front, the central bank is pencilling in 2.4% for this year, before slowing to 1.9% next year, with a cooler housing market and stable food prices set to hold price growth rates below the global average.

In perspective: Despite the revised figures, the central bank’s predictions are still markedly more optimistic than others. Oxford Economics is expecting a GDP contraction of 0.2%, down 4.6% from its pre-war estimates, while Goldman Sachs sees GDP shrinking by around 5%.

Arada, Aldar link up for Abu Dhabi projects

Sharjah developer Arada is building in Abu Dhabi via an AED 15 bn partnership with Aldar Properties, according to a statement (pdf). The partnership agreement, signed yesterday, will see the pair co-develop a villa and townhouse community across up to 1.5 mn sqm at Seih Sdeirah, on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai border. Arada is also buying three residential plots on Yas Island from Aldar. Neither company said how the headline figure splits between the two agreements, or whether it reflects land value or projected sales.

How it’s structured: At Seih Sdeirah, Arada will lead development and construction management, and the two firms will jointly brand and sell the community. On Yas, Arada is buying three plots, two of them canal-facing, with more than 27.5k sqm of land and almost 130k sqm of gross floor area. The price for the plots was not disclosed.

Why it matters: Each side gets something that would be difficult to attain independently in this market. Aldar sells land and puts a slice of its 76 mn sqm landbank to work (Seih Sdeirah is c. 2% of it) while a partner handles construction. For Arada, it gains access to the one major UAE market where it lacked a development footprint. And while it already owns an Abu Dhabi asset — an 80%+ stake in Reem Hospital, backed by an AED 2 bn expansion commitment — this is its first development project in the capital.

It’s the latest step in Arada’s push beyond Sharjah: The company has moved abroad in quick succession:

In 2024, it opened a Sydney office with an AED 6 bn pipeline;
Last September, it bought 75% of London developer Regal;
It then acquired 80% of Thameside West in London;
In early September, it signed a USD 7 bn agreement with Syria's sovereign fund for a 4 mn sqm project in New Damascus.

Arada now puts its pipeline at USD 46 bn. That is up from the AED 95 bn (c. USD 26 bn) across the UAE and Australia we reported a year ago. Its funding is also shifting away from its own balance sheet: it is setting up an ADGM fund platform to bring in institutional LPs for the first time.

Analysts expect more developers to pair up: Cavendish Maxwell’s Ali Siddiqui told us in July that the market is tilting toward larger, well-capitalized developers, with smaller players likely to lean on JVs and partnerships. Fitch’s Diego Della Maggiore pointed to JVs, co-investment, and land partnerships among responses to high land, construction, and financing costs.

The backdrop for the sector has changed since last year. Dubai’s 2Q transactions fell 19% q-o-q, and launches collapsed to 5.3k units from 45k, as demand cools from pre-war levels and construction costs rise. Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that regulators have been informally warning larger developers they may need to absorb cash-strapped rivals. Binghatti, which Moody’s has put on review for a possible downgrade, says it’s eyeing multi-bn-USD tie-ups with master developers.

What’s next: Both companies call this a “first phase” and say they will look for more work together across multiple asset classes and emirates.

Emirates NBD finances aerospace hub, Temasek and Pantheon eye Abu Dhabi, Mubadala keeps moving in India, Agrobank comes back to Mashreq

Emirates NBD finances TIM’s Dubai South MRO hub

Emirates NBD is financing TIM Aerospace, an independent aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) provider, as it builds out its Dubai South hub at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). The bank is providing a bilateral capex term loan for the construction and launch of the facility, with the financing size undisclosed, according to a press release. The nearly 26k-sqm site includes an 18k-sqm hangar capable of handling up to 12 narrow-body or five wide-body aircraft at once.

It joins a much bigger maintenance buildout around DWC: We covered TIM’s hangar last November, after the company first signed on to the project in 2023. Flydubai is also building a USD 190 mn MRO hub, while Falcon Aviation has earmarked USD 100 mn for upgrades — part of the aviation infrastructure taking shape around Al Maktoum as Dubai builds it out into its future main airport.

Pantheon lands in Abu Dhabi

London-based private markets investor Pantheon set up shop in Abu Dhabi, with an ADGM office to target regional appetite for private equity, infrastructure, and private credit strategies, according to a press release. The asset manager, with USD 84 bn in AUM, appointed Firas Mallah — formerly head of MENA at Sagard — as MD and head of Middle East to lead the new onshore unit.

Private markets move east: Pantheon joins a growing lineup of global alternative managers, including EQT, Sixth Street, Barings, and Bain Capital, nestling closer to Gulf sovereign wealth funds and institutional family offices as private wealth investors seek greater access to private-market assets.

Mubadala keeps its India pipeline moving

Mubadala completed a secondary sell-down in India’s Cube Highways Trust, raising INR 6.8 bn (USD 82.5 mn) through its investment arm Seventy Second Investment Company, according to BSE index data. Seventy Second disposed of 44.97 mn units in the listed infrastructure investment trust — a 3.35% stake — at an average price of INR 153.3 per unit. That is a 0.93% discount to Cube Highways’ previous closing price. As of the end of June, Mubadala held a 6% stake in the toll platform operator, according to BSE data.

The buyers: The entire block was absorbed by domestic Indian institutional investors, led by engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, which purchased INR 1.5 bn (USD 15.6 mn) worth of units as the largest buyer, while mutual funds and life insurers acquired the rest.

IN CONTEXT- This reads more like portfolio recycling than an Abu Dhabi retreat from India. Adia has anchored two of India’s biggest IPOs this year — Manipal Health and the National Stock Exchange — while Mubadala itself held onto its existing 8% Manipal stake rather than selling down alongside Adia’s entry.

Agrobank comes back to Mashreq — for a much bigger check

Uzbekistan’s Agrobank closed a USD 300 mn, two-year syndicated term loan led by our friends at Mashreq, which acted as coordinator, initial mandated lead arranger, bookrunner, and documentation agent, according to a company statement. The facility was launched at USD 140 mn but drew USD 365 mn of commitments from 19 lenders across MENA, the CIS, and the Far East — more than 2.6x the original target — before being capped at USD 300 mn.

This isn’t Agrobank’s first Mashreq-led trip to the loan market: We reported in 2024 that the UAE lender arranged a USD 88 mn, one-year facility for Agrobank — the first syndicated loan by an Uzbekistan-owned bank in the MENA region at the time. The new transaction is more than triple that size and came in well above its original launch target.

Standing with the club

Manchester City sponsor Etihad Airways will consult with counsel on taking legal action against the Premier League after an independent commission found the club had breached the league’s financial rules over nine seasons, The Athletic reports, citing a statement by the airline. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier said it “categorically rejects any finding, conclusion, or implication that suggests the airline has ever been involved in improper commercial arrangements.” Etihad Airways was not named in the commission’s report, which was partially redacted.

ICYMI- An independent panel found Manchester City guilty this week of 114 of the 115 financial rule charges brought against it by the Premier League. The club — charged in February 2023 — was cited for violations committed from 2009 to 2018 involving financial reporting, player and manager pay, regulatory compliance, and investigation cooperation. Premier League CEO Richard Masters characterized the case and decision as “the most significant in Premier League history.”

Temasek is putting down Gulf roots. Will the capital follow?

Temasek to build GCC presence next year: Singapore sovereign investor Temasek plans to open an Abu Dhabi office by 1H 2027 as part of a broader Middle East expansion, alongside a Riyadh outpost and deeper engagement with institutions in Qatar, according to a company statement. The offices, which are subject to statutory approvals, will also host some of Temasek’s portfolio companies and support investments across the GCC, Central Asia, and Africa. The moves take Temasek’s global office network from 13 in nine countries to 15 in 11 and mark its first physical Gulf presence after years of doing Gulf-adjacent business without one.

Why it matters: Temasek is formalizing a relationship that has been years in the making, one built almost entirely through co-investment rather than direct dealmaking in the region itself, Global SWF says in a note seen by EnterpriseAM. Temasek’s own disclosures put Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at just 12% of underlying exposure in its SGD 518 bn (USD 401 bn) portfolio as of end-March, with the Middle East not broken out separately — a footprint that looks thin next to how often Temasek’s name shows up alongside Gulf capital elsewhere in the world.

Qatar, its biggest co-investor, is not getting an office

Temasek isn’t opening a Doha office, but its ties to the Qatar Investment Authority, per Global SWF’s tally, are arguably its deepest in the Gulf. The two have repeatedly co-invested across biotech, energy, and deep tech: QIA led a EUR 250 mn Series D for French biotech Innovafeed in 2022, with Temasek participating; Temasek then led two rounds in German radiopharma company ITM, with QIA alongside it both times; the pair joined Decarbonization Partners on a USD 460 mn round for battery materials firm Ascend Elements in 2023; and in 2025 and 2026, they turned up together again in PsiQuantum’s USD 1 bn Series E, AI chip firm d-Matrix’s USD 275 mn round, and Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker Nearfield Instruments’ USD 380 mn Series D. That’s a half-decade of overlapping bets across biotech, the energy transition, quantum, and semiconductors.

The Abu Dhabi ties are already getting thicker

Temasek’s asset-management platform Seviora — which already operates an office in Abu Dhabi — signed an MoU with FAB this week to explore distributing its strategies to the bank’s wealth clients and potential co-investments. Temasek also joined BlackRock’s GIP, Adnoc, and L’imad in May on a USD 30 bn infrastructure investment platform targeting the GCC and Central Asia, and has run a separate strategic partnership with Mubadala Capital since 2024.

Saudi is the newer, thinner relationship

Unlike Qatar and Abu Dhabi, there isn’t a comparable string of joint investments to point to. The clearest Saudi-Temasek link runs the other direction, with PIF-owned SALIC paying USD 1.24 bn for a stake in Temasek-owned Olam Agri back in 2022 — a Saudi investment into Temasek’s orbit rather than the reverse. Global SWF frames the Riyadh office as more a play on Saudi Arabia’s diversification drive and its pull for foreign capital and operating expertise — with Abu Dhabi, in its words, starting from “a denser institutional network” than Riyadh.

The test that hasn’t happened yet

None of this, per Global SWF, is proof that more Temasek capital is about to flow into the Gulf — only that the relationships now have a physical base to work from. The note frames the offices as bringing years of co-investment “closer to the markets themselves,” but explicitly leaves open whether that translates into anything more. “The next test,” it says, “is whether ties formed through global transactions lead to a larger flow of Temasek capital into the Gulf.”

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets were mixed in early trading, with Japan’s Nikkei gaining around 1.9% and South Korea’s Kospi down 0.3%. US equity futures were mostly in the green.

ADX	10,070	-0.6% (YTD: +0.8%)
DFM	5,961	-0.5% (YTD: -1.4%)
Nasdaq Dubai UAE20	4,955	-1.0% (YTD: -1.3%)
USD : AED CBUAE	Buy 3.67	Sell 3.67
EIBOR	3.7% o/n	5.1% 1 yr
TASI	10,441	-0.1% (YTD: -0.5%)
EGX30	51,895	-0.8% (YTD: +24.1%)
S&P 500	7,652	-0.3% (YTD: +11.8%)
FTSE 100	10,606	-0.3% (YTD: +6.8%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,269	-0.8% (YTD: +8.2%)
Brent crude	USD 98.20	+0.2%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 3.00	-0.8%
Gold	USD 4,177	-0.2%
BTC	USD 83,478	+0.0% (YTD: -4.7%)
Lunate JP Morgan UAE Bond UCITS ETF	AED 3.54	-0.8% (YTD: -5.6%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	146.70	-0.1% (YTD: -3.4%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	16.34	+1.9% (YTD: +9.3%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.6% yesterday on turnover of AED 1.16 bn. The index is up 0.8% YTD.

In the green: INB (+3.4%), Burjeel Holdings (+2.7%), and Americana Restaurants International (+1.7%).

In the red: Gulf Cement (-5.0%), Aram Group (-4.2%), and Investcorp Capital (-3.8%).

Over on the DFM, the index fell 0.5% on turnover of AED 698.4 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai was down 1.0%.

CALENDAR

OCTOBER

26 September-1 October (Saturday–Thursday): UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

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

2-5 November (Monday-Thursday): Adipec, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

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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THIS MORNING: L’imad set to be main driver of Hormuz bypassing + EGA shifts more exports to the east coast

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This publication is proudly sponsored by

Build in India, finish in the UAE, localize in Saudi: India Inc.’s new Gulf playbook

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CBUAE brings down GDP growth outlook to 1.6%

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Arada, Aldar link up for Abu Dhabi projects

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Emirates NBD finances aerospace hub, Temasek and Pantheon eye Abu Dhabi, Mubadala keeps moving in India, Agrobank comes back to Mashreq

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Temasek is putting down Gulf roots. Will the capital follow?

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