{"id":93556,"date":"2024-07-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/adia-to-join-in-on-one-of-the-biggest-ma-transactions-in-europe-this-year\/"},"modified":"2024-07-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T00:00:00","slug":"adia-to-join-in-on-one-of-the-biggest-ma-transactions-in-europe-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2024\/07\/05\/adia-to-join-in-on-one-of-the-biggest-ma-transactions-in-europe-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Adia to join in on one of the biggest M&A transactions in Europe this year?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends, and happy FRIDAY. <\/strong>We\u2019re wrapping what has been an exceptionally slow news week \u2014 characteristic of the July-August summer lull \u2014 with another short but interesting issue. <\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY today is news of another potential IPO on the ADX<\/strong>, this time courtesy of Alpha Data, which is looking at potentially raising USD 200 mn and has tapped banks to pull the trigger. <\/p>\n

WEATHER- We\u2019re in for a sunny and warm couple of days<\/strong>, with the mercury hitting 40\u00b0C in Dubai today and 41\u00b0C tomorrow, with overnight lows of 32-33\u00b0C. Abu Dhabi <\/strong>will see the mercury peak at 36\u00b0C today and 38\u00b0C tomorrow, with an overnight low of 32\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE- <\/p>\n

<\/a> #1-<\/strong> Adia could join Advent to acquire Sanofi consumer health unit:<\/strong> The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) has been approached by US-based private equity firm Advent International to back its bid for French pharma firm Sanofi\u2019s USD 20 bn consumer health unit, anticipated to be among Europe\u2019s largest transactions this year, Bloomberg<\/a> reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Other bidders, including American private equity firm Bain Capital and UK-based Cinven, are expected to submit initial offers by mid-July. <\/p>\n

Adia and Advent are buddying up:<\/strong> The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund joined Advent in June<\/a> to acquire a minority stake in Texas-based wealth management firm Fisher Investments, which valued the firm at USD 12.75 bn.<\/p>\n

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#2- UAE's Alterra climate fund is actively pursuing more investments:<\/strong> The UAE\u2019s USD 30 bn climate fund Alterra is gearing up for its next round of investments as it looks to make the UAE a \u201cSilicon Valley\u201d for innovation and investment in climate solutions, CEO Majid Al Suwaidi told Bloomberg<\/a> in an interview. Having secured USD 6.5 bn in investments with BlackRock, TPG, and Brookfield Asset Management last year, Alterra is now planning further allocations, Al Suwaidi said, without naming any participants nor did he specify a date for future announcements. <\/p>\n

About the fund: <\/strong>The USD 30 bn vehicle was launched last year<\/a> to increase climate funding for the Global South, with an initial USD 1 bn investment from the UAE. Alterra recently said<\/a> it will direct an extra USD 200 bn to investments over the next six years, after saying it aims to mobilize USD 250 bn in green investments by 2030. <\/p>\n

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<\/a> #3- DP World will build a 20 mn sqft car market \u2014 set to be the largest in the world \u2014 in <\/strong>Dubai<\/strong>, Deputy Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed said in a post<\/a> on X. The market will provide government and banking services for automotive players, connect to 77 global markets via DP World's network, and host major automotive events and conferences. <\/p>\n

MORE FROM DP WORLD- The logistics giant is eyeing investments in Thailand:<\/strong> DP World is considering investing in Thailand\u2019s logistics sector, including the mega Land Bridge project<\/a> currently under development, Al Bayan<\/a> reported. The two sides discussed the potential investments during a visit by DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and an accompanying high-level delegation to the Southeast Asian country. The delegation met with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, according to bin Sul<\/a>ayem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a> #4- More air travel with China?<\/strong> The UAE and China are exploring potentially ramping up bilateral air traffic after years of stagnation, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. citing people familiar with the matter. Officials will meet in Beijing in the coming weeks to discuss increasing flights beyond the current 56 per week per country ceiling, although no specific increase has been determined yet. <\/p>\n

Who benefits:<\/strong> Emirates, currently operating its maximum of 35 weekly flights to China, stands to benefit significantly, alongside China Southern Airlines, which flies to the UAE 20 times per week. <\/p>\n

DATA POINT-<\/p>\n

The Finance Ministry\u2019s Treasury Sukuk auction for 3Q 2024 was oversubscribed <\/strong>6.1x<\/strong>, with some AED 6.76 bn in bids received from eight local banks, the ministry said<\/a> on X. The yield-to-maturity of the three-year tranche was set at 4.77%, and 4.43% on the five-year tranche, marking a tightening of 1-3 basis points over US treasuries from maturity at the time of auction. <\/p>\n

OIL WATCH-<\/p>\n

OPEC+ is urging its members to make up for breaching supply quotas in an effort to <\/strong>stabilize global oil markets, <\/strong>but there is little evidence that members are complying, Bloomberg<\/a> reports, citing recent production data. Iraq and Kazakhstan are two countries that have yet to deliver on the promised additional cuts to offset their earlier overproduction, the data shows.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND-<\/strong> Introduced in 2020<\/a>, the overproduction compensation scheme was put in place to pressure members that exceed their production quotas to make extra compensation cuts in subsequent months equivalent to the excess output. <\/p>\n

REMEMBER<\/strong>- In June<\/a>, Opec+ decided to extend most of their crude oil production cuts well into 3Q 2024. The alliance will keep in place current production cuts of 3.66 mn barrels per day (bbl \/ d) until the end of this September, before beginning to phase out the cuts of 2.2 mn bbl \/ d over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025. <\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- <\/p>\n

All eyes are on the UK elections<\/strong>, as the Labour party is set for a landslide victory while the Conservative party \u2014 in power for the past 14 years \u2014 is likely seeing the lowest number of seats in its history, according to the exit poll.<\/p>\n

The Labour party\u2019s victory would make 61-year old human rights lawyer Keir Starmer the country\u2019s new prime minister.<\/strong> Analysts peg him as \u201crelatively prime-ministerial\u201d<\/a> but lacking in charisma, though his pro-business, pro-reforms<\/a> approach likely clinched his party\u2019s victory. The Guardian has an in-depth profile<\/a> of his life and career, while the Financial Times<\/a> has a deep-dive on what\u2019s on the party\u2019s agenda once it is in power (chief among them is potentially the biggest government shake-up in decades<\/a>).<\/p>\n

OVER IN THE US- More names are being thrown in the ring by Democrats<\/strong> looking to push Joe Biden out of the race. Two top donors have suggested Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and California governor Gavin Newsom as front-runners, the Financial Times<\/a> says, as pressure mounts for new candidates with strong backing to be at the ready to replace Biden, whose candidacy is seen as \u201cdoomed\u201d even by his campaigners and friends. <\/p>\n

CLOSER TO HOME- The US is saying there is a \u201csignificant opening\u201d to secure a permanent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas<\/strong>, with a senior official saying Biden had a \u201cbreakthrough on a critical impasse\u201d with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu during a 30-minute phone call yesterday, according to the FT<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Yes, but: <\/strong>The agreement will likely take longer than just a few days, and it wouldn\u2019t be the first one to advance before getting stalled due to disputes on terms like hostage release and aid. <\/p>\n

Other interesting reads this morning: <\/strong><\/p>\n