THIS MORNING: MAF is not delaying delivery for Tilal Al Ghaf homes, for now + Edge to set up Edge Europe in Paris

Good morning, everyone, and happy FRIDAY. We have a long weekend ahead of us — the last one for at least a couple of months — and our sendoff to you is a bumper issue, with plenty of big headlines to digest.

**BUT FIRST, A QUICK PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’re also going to be off on Monday for the public holiday, but we’ll be back in your inbox bright and early on Tuesday morning.

AND A CLARIFICATION- In yesterday’s issue, we reported on Abu Dhabi’s USD 2.5 bn bond reopenings without making clear that this was confirmation of an issuance we first covered in April. The two tranches — USD 1.5 bn of 5.0% notes due 2034 and USD 1 bn of 4.875% notes due 2029 — were tapped on 15 April. Yesterday’s piece was based on the Department of Finance notices formally confirming the transaction.

Could we get some good news over the weekend? After attacks on Iran and counterattacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan earlier Wednesday night, US President Donald Trump has now flipped the script and said he canceled further airstrikes on Iran and that an agreement is pretty much done. Iran has denied any agreement on a specific text, but Trump insists it’s close.

Another significant development, closer to home: UAE and Iranian senior national security officials have reportedly met face-to-face for the first time since the war began — a stark turnaround for both sides, which sources said reflects a growing acknowledgment of the need to calm bilateral ties. It’s not clear who was at the table when they met, and there has been no official confirmation yet from state news agency Wam or the Foreign Affairs Ministry of a meeting.

Until then, we end your week on a note of cautious optimism. The newswell today is largely positive — Emaar is committing a whopping AED 200 bn to a new Dubai masterplan, debt markets are waking up from their slumber, and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds — and renewables firm Masdar — are still busy deploying abroad.

But the backdrop is one where hiring freezes are biting in hospitality and trade, some developers are sending out client notifications about supply chain disruptions, and the Gulf's air traffic is still running well below normal.

WEATHER- We’re looking at another hot day with a high of 40°C in Dubai and a low of 29°C, while Abu Dhabi will see a high of 39°C and a low of 27°C, according to our favorite weather app.

Setting the record straight

Majid Al Futtaim has disputed a Semafor report published yesterday claiming the conglomerate invoked force majeure clauses in sales contracts at its Tilal Al Ghaf development in Dubai, citing war-related supply chain disruptions. The firm said in a statement to EnterpriseAM UAE it was a false “interpretation” that “does not reflect the facts.”

The firm confirmed that construction across Tilal Al Ghaf continues to progress in line with schedule. It maintains that they had only shared a note with customers notifying them of “broader regional conditions currently affecting the construction industry, including pressures on logistics and material supply chains,” without signaling a change to delivery timelines.

Emirates offers up ins. for travelers

We now know a bit more about the incentives Emirates is offering to attract more flyers amid ongoing geopolitical instability. The airline is working with insurers to launch a dedicated travel ins. product that would ensure a route home for passengers if war disruption returns, even if that means rebooking them on another carrier, Emirates President Tim Clark told the Financial Times.

The proposed coverage is aimed at addressing one of the biggest obstacles facing Gulf airlines since the war began. Passenger traffic through Dubai remains below pre-war levels, with around 40k travellers a day transiting through the airport compared with roughly 100k before the conflict. Clark said demand is nevertheless recovering faster than expected as confidence gradually returns.

Edge sets up European entity

State-owned defense firm Edge is formalizing its presence in Europe under the umbrella of Edge Europe, headquartered in Paris, it said in a press release. The Paris headquarters will anchor government engagement and investment strategy, while an engineering hub in Bordeaux will be its engineering and manufacturing core in France.

BACKGROUND- Edge has been steadily embedding itself deeper in Europe’s defense-industrial supply chain as part of a wider UAE push to expand critical military capabilities. The group has already moved into propulsion through a planned controlling stake in Italy’s CMD, alongside partnerships in chiplet manufacturing with Lockheed Martin, electronics and PCB localization agreements across Europe, and a USD 1.5 bn defense manufacturing pipeline with Spain’s EM&E Group.

DIFC proposes arbitration amendments

Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) is proposing to significantly expand its arbitration toolkit in changes that would affect how disputes are structured, funded, and resolved for the thousands of companies that use the center's arbitration framework, according to a new consultation paper (pdf) open for feedback until 6 July.

The most consequential proposals: Tribunals would gain the power to award on a summary basis where a claim has no real prospect of success — a meaningful acceleration for cut-and-dried cases. Emergency arbitrators would be able to make preemptive orders. And parties would be required to disclose all third-party funding agreements, closing a gap that has attracted scrutiny in other major arbitration seats.

Also proposed: Extended timelines for proceedings to begin; a mechanism to lift confidentiality when the court deems it appropriate; consolidation and joinder orders by agreement; provisional relief including payment or property; and more flexibility on mediation structure.

For parties involved in arbitration proceedings, the paper proposes more flexibility to choose the type of mediation, appoint more than one mediator if they wish, and conduct proceedings through the DIFC’s mediation centers.

There’s more where that comes from, says ADIC…

Mubadala’s Abu Dhabi Investment Council is planning to build USD 15 bn worth of exposure in global hedge funds, after just recently backing a USD 2 bn capital raise by Michael Gelband’s ExodusPoint Capital Management, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Abu Dhabi fund is working with local banks on a total return swap facility that would let it gain exposure to a basket of hedge funds without directly owning them, sources are quoted as saying. It’s mainly targeting “multistrategy firms” with steady positive returns in recent years, the business news information service says.

In context: ADIC has been pivoting toward a louder, more expansion-focused strategy under the auspices of Saeed Al Mazrouei, who took the reins in 2023. The SWF is targeting minimum returns of 10%, upping its BTC and alternative asset exposure, and pushing into segments like ins. and secondaries. Its deep capital reserves and lack of payout commitments are giving it an edge on competitors, as it looks to deploy upward of USD 10 bn over the next three years.

Data point

9.3% y-o-y — that’s how much Ras Al Khaimah’s residential capital values grew in 1Q 2026, its slowest pace of growth in two years, according to ValuStrat Price Index (pdf). Values were largely unchanged from the previous quarter, inching up 0.2%. That means capital values mostly held up — and even grew — despite a dip in activity due to the conflict.

Both apartments and villas posted the same index reading of 124.1 points. Apartments values rose 10.3% y-o-y, while villa growth slowed to 7.4% — with both segments remaining flat on a quarterly basis. Al Marjan Island remained the standout performer, with apartment prices climbing 13.2% from a year earlier, and it was the only area tracked to see q-o-q growth, albeit of just 1.3%. Al Hamra and Mina Al Arab also continued to record annual gains.

Rental returns held steady despite the moderation in capital appreciation, with gross yields standing at 5.3% for both apartments and villas.

The big story abroad

SpaceX’s historic IPO is the biggest story in the business press right now. Elon Musk’s company made history as the biggest IPO ever, raising USD 75 bn — making it double the size of Aramco’s USD 29.4 bn listing in 2019. Retail investors put in some USD 100 bn worth of orders.

AND- Underwriting banks have been given an over-allotment option to buy an additional 83.3 mn shares at the IPO price, potentially increasing the size of the IPO to USD 86 bn if fully exercised. The firm is now valued at nearly USD 1.8 tn. All eyes are now on its trading debut later today, with analysts expecting at least a 10% pop — or much more considering the hype around the IPO — and many looking towards how performance holds up over the next few weeks.

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