Author
Harsh Batra
Harsh Batra
This week, Gulf capital flowed outbound in force.
Cross-border megadeals totalled more than US$8bn, led by the region’s sovereign funds. Whether driven by a structural surplus of liquidity, Vision 2030-linked diversification, or straightforward valuation arbitrage, the message is the same: Middle East dealmakers are deploying capital (and influence) at scale.
This week’s headline transactions included:
- Mubadala Capital, in partnership with TWG Global, agreed an all-cash take-private of US-based Clear Channel Outdoor, a major out-of-home advertising player. The transaction values the business at an enterprise value of US$6.2bn and represents a 71% premium for shareholders. A clear statement of intent both in scale and in conviction.
- Citi announced agreements for a consortium of investors (including Qatar Investment Authority, General Atlantic, Afore SURA, BTG Pactual, Chubb, funds managed by Blackstone, and Liberty Strategic Capital) to acquire a 24% stake in Banamex for around MXN 43bn (US$2.5bn).
- Within the Middle East, the standout onshore move was DEWA increasing its stake in Empower to 80% via a transaction worth AED 5.1bn. The implied 14% premium to the prior closing price signals DEWA’s willingness to pay up to consolidate control and deepen its strategic position in district cooling.
Want to go deeper on M&A insights? Connect with me on LinkedIn!
Deals Tracker
Outbound M&A
- Mexico | Citi agreed to sell an aggregate 24% stake in Banamex to a consortium as it progresses its divestiture ahead of a proposed IPO.
- USA | Teradyne and MultiLane agreed to form a majority-owned JV to serve AI data centre equipment demand.
- USA | Mubadala Capital and TWG Global agreed to acquire Clear Channel Outdoor in a $6.2bn all-cash deal.
The rumour mill
- Egypt | Beltone denies market talk of Al Ansari Financial Services buying a 16% stake at EGP 4.23 a share
- Oman | The government is reportedly considering an acquisition of low-cost airline SalamAir
- Qatar | Aamal says its JV Senyar Industries Qatar Holding will start talks to acquire Qatar International Cables Company
- Saudi Arabia | Al Muhaidib rejects Retal’s offer for its 9.09% stake in Ajdan
- Saudi Arabia | LIVA and Malath extend their potential merger MoU by one month
- Saudi Arabia | Logistics tech startup Routech Express raises $1m in pre-seed funding
- UAE | Al Habtoor appoints US counsel to begin arbitration against Lebanon, as it prepares to cease operations there
- UAE | DAE Capital is said to be close to buying aircraft lessor Macquarie AirFinance
Job moves
- Bahrain | Bahrain Car Parks Company appoints Looai Hasan Ali associate director and Rahma Ali Altawash as board secretary and governance manager
- Bahrain | Bank ABC appoints Abdelkhalig Shaib as group chief legal and corporate affairs officer
- Bahrain | Inovest appoints Talal Abdulaziz Al Mulla as CEO, effective 15 Feb 2026
- Oman | OQ Exploration and Production appoints Mahmoud Abdullah Al Hashmi as CEO, effective 12 Feb 2026
- Qatar | Apex Group opens a regulated office in Qatar and appoints Emad Khan as country head
- Qatar | Ooredoo forms Ooredoo Fibre Networks and appoints Khalid Hassan Al-Hamadi as CEO
- Qatar | QNB appoints Achraf Hakimi as global brand ambassador
- Qatar | TotalEnergies appoints Antoine Delafargue as country chair and managing director for E&P
- Saudi Arabia | Emaar The Economic City appoints Muhannad Al-Azzawi chairman after Fahad Al-Saif resigns
- Saudi Arabia | GACO appoints Abdulaziz Al Humaid as chairman and Badr Al-Qadi as vice chair
- Saudi Arabia | Group Five Pipe Saudi reappoints Tariq Al-Qahtani as chairman and Salah Al-Qahtani as deputy chairman and managing director
- Saudi Arabia | Keir International names Ahmed Al-Hazmi acting chairman after Moath Al Suhaibani steps down
- Saudi Arabia | Modern Mills ends its CEO contract by mutual agreement and appoints Ahmed Hegazy acting CEO
- Saudi Arabia | National Building and Marketing appoints Mohamed Daaboul acting chairman after Rayyan Al-Khuwaiter resigns
- Saudi Arabia | Tasheel appoints Mohamed Galal as managing director from 1 March 2026
- Saudi Arabia | United Electronics (eXtra) names Ali Mansour CEO, with Mohamed Galal set to step down at end-Feb
- UAE | Ajman Bank names Dr Joseph George as chief technology officer
- UAE | DP World names Essa Kazim chairman and Yuvraj Narayan group CEO after Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem resigns
- UAE | Emarat appoints Burhan Al Hashemi as chief executive officer
- UAE | Keolis appoints Youenn Dupuis as CEO for Middle East and East Asia
- UAE | Legend Holding Group appoints Jonathan Stretton as chief operating officer
- UAE | PropertyPistol appoints Sachin Malhotra as partner and CEO for its UAE business
- UAE | PRYPCO adds Damien Drap (COO), Haresh Bajaj (CPO) and Denis Agiev (CTO) to its C-suite
- UAE | Tadweer Group appoints Etienne Petit as chief executive officer
IPOs
- Bahrain | Silah Gulf starts trading on Bahrain Bourse after a 4x-oversubscribed IPO selling 30% at 176 fils a share
- Egypt | Gourmet Egypt lists on EGX in an IPO selling up to 47.6% in secondary shares, with both tranches oversubscribed
- Kuwait | Supermarket operator Trolley upsizes its IPO to 35% after drawing $2.87bn of demand
- Oman | Oman Gateway Fund opens subscriptions (OMR 1 units; OMR 100 minimum) from 27 Jan to 12 Feb
- Saudi Arabia | IPO pipelines are building again in Riyadh, spanning oilfield services, telecoms and construction
- Saudi Arabia | Kesay Clinics’ Nomu IPO closes for subscription on 22 Feb
- Saudi Arabia | Saleh Abdulaziz AlRashed prices its IPO at SAR 45 a share after institutional bookbuilding
- Saudi Arabia | Several firms are lining up Tadawul IPO plans, including AlKhorayef Petroleum and Etihad Salam Telecom
- UAE | Dubai Investment Park is said to be prepping a post-Eid IPO, with discussions around selling up to 25%
Fundraising
- Egypt | Breadfast raises $50m pre-Series C as it moves towards a potential IPO track
- Egypt | Flextock raises $12.6m Series A to scale its e-commerce fulfilment and financing stack
- Jordan | Financing is secured for a 100MW solar plant set to supply 63 industrial companies
- Qatar | QIA backs Axiom Space’s $350m funding round to support commercial space infrastructure plans
- Saudi Arabia | BNPL startup Madfu closes a $25.5m pre-Series A round
- Saudi Arabia | CASHIN closes a $16m Series A led by Impact46
- Saudi Arabia | Deep.SA brings Vision Ventures into its pre-seed round, extending a prior SAR 4.5m raise
- Saudi Arabia | Humain invests $3bn into xAI as part of a $20bn funding round
- Saudi Arabia | Jazr.io raises $213k pre-seed to scale its F&B accounting and inventory platform
- Saudi Arabia | SiFi raises $20m Series A as AI takes 22% of MENA VC funding in 2025
- Syria | Agritech startup Nutra-GreeniX raises $200k seed funding led by EBLA Ventures
- UAE | Kitopi raises $50m in financing as it looks to expand internationally
- UAE | NextSource launches a C$25m financing to advance its planned UAE battery anode facility
- UAE | Smart Bricks closes a $5m pre-seed round to automate real estate discovery, underwriting and execution
- UAE | Stake closes a $31m Series B led by Emirates NBD
