Talabat Acquires InstaShop...
Talabat has completed the acquisition of 100% of InstaShop's share capital from Delivery Hero SE.
UAE News:
Talabat has completed the acquisition of 100% of InstaShop's share capital from Delivery Hero SE. The transaction, valued at $32 million, was fully funded through Talabat’s internal cash reserves. InstaShop is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Talabat and will be consolidated into its financial accounts from the 25th of February, 2025.
The fintech sector contributes 8.7% to UAE GDP, as disclosed by the Minister of Economy, while also stating that the goal is to raise its contribution to 12% of GDP by 2031.
Financial centres in the UAE are in demand: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) revealed a 31% increase in the number of authorised firms last year, bringing the total number of regulated entities to over 900. The ADGM reported a 32% jump in annual company registrations last year, and the total number of firms reached 2381 at the end of December (2023: 1800+). A total of 134 asset and fund managers managing 166 funds operate out of the centre, and assets under management jumped over three-fold in 2024.
UAE investment platform 2PointZero is planning an IPO this year and will list in Abu Dhabi by the end of this year, revealed the company’s CEO. The company, which was set up last year with a total asset base of AED 100bn, lists alternative asset manager Lunate, Egyptian Financial Services Company Beltone and International Resources Holding in its portfolio.
ADNOC signed a 15-year LNG supply deal with Japan’s Osaka Gas to supply up to 0.8mn tonnes per annum from the Ruwais LNG project.
MENA News:
Iraq and BP signed an agreement to redevelop four Kirkuk oil and gas fields, with BP estimated to spend USD 25bn over the lifetime of the project.
Lebanon’s new government won a confidence vote (95 in favour and 12 against) in Parliament, with the PM promising to begin negotiations with the IMF as well as work to remove the country from the FATF grey list; he also stated that “we will put depositors at the top of our priorities”. Separately, the Finance Minister disclosed that the World Bank is working to create a USD 1bn reconstruction fund, putting in the seed money of USD 250mn.
Lebanon’s President disclosed that he would request Saudi Arabia “if it is possible to reactivate the [USD 3bn] grant” to the Lebanese army that was halted in 2016.
A UNICEF official disclosed that more than half of children under the age of two were experiencing severe food poverty in Lebanon’s East, and that following US aid cuts, UNICEF had to suspend or reduce many programmes.
FDI into Oman increased by 17.6% over 5 years, with FDI totaling OMR 26.6bn by Q3 2024 according to the National Center for Statistics and Information. The UK, US and UAE were the top three investors accounting for OMR 13.6bn, OMR 5.2bn and OMR 836.5mn, respectively.
Arab visitors to Oman grew by 1.3% YoY to 1.95mn in 2024, with UAE leading the table with 1.1mn persons, followed by Yemen (203k) and Saudi Arabia (109,900). Hotel revenues grew by 5% to reach OMR 212.372mn in January- November 2024, with occupancy rates rising to 48.6%.
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is evaluating eight venture capital firms to add to its “fund of funds” programme, according to the Head of Funds at QIA. About USD 500mn has already been invested in 6 firms. The VC programme represents less than 0.2% of QIA’s holdings.
Qatar signed a deal with AI data firm Scale AI to provide a boost to government services via AI tools: The firm is expected to develop more than 50 uses of AI for the government in the next 5 years.
According to EY, M&A activities in the MENA region grew by 7% YoY to USD 92.3bn in 2024 from 701 deals (+3% YoY). UAE and Saudi Arabia together had 318 deals with a total value of USD 29.6bn, while GCC nations together accounted for 52% of the volume and 74% of the value.
Private equity deals in the MENA region totalled USD 27.6bn in the 5 years till 2024, with the UAE and Saudi accounting for 68% of total transactions during the period. While UAE led in the period till 2022, Saudi Arabia contributed more than half of the region’s total disclosed PE investment value in 2024.
A total of 1346 industrial licenses were issued in Saudi Arabia last year, attracting investments of over SAR 50bn and supporting the creation of more than 44k jobs, according to the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. Furthermore, production began in 1,075 factories in 2024, with investments crossing SAR 48bn and employing about 39k persons. Separately, Saudi Arabia also issued its first-ever Industrial licenses for aircraft maintenance and overhaul to 2 companies last week (at the Aerospace Connect Forum in Jeddah) in a bid to boost local capabilities and reduce dependence on foreign maintenance facilities.
The value of residential real estate transactions in Saudi Arabia surged by 35% over the past 5 years to SAR 164.8bn, according to a Knight Frank report. The number of sales jumped by 38% to just under 202,661 in the same period.
Global News:
Greater uncertainty from US trade tariff announcements, the unsettling outcome from the White House meeting with Ukraine’s Zelensky and questions related to NATO among others led to jittery equities markets: major equity markets ended in the red last week, though Stoxx600 managed to eke out a modest gain. Regional markets in the Middle East were mostly down given the rise in overall uncertainty; in Saudi, a slowdown in corporate earnings resulted in a 2.2% weekly loss. The euro fell to a 2-week low of USD 1.036 after the potential Ukraine deal fell through after the White House meeting. Oil prices declined slightly (Brent by 1.7% and WTI by under 1%) and gold prices fell (though posted a monthly gain in Feb). Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gained on the US President’s announcement that the US will include tokens in its strategic reserve.
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SOURCE:
Nasser Saidi & Associates