Author
Harsh Batra
Harsh Batra
The conflict in the Middle East has emerged as the biggest risk for the global venture capital and IPO markets in Q2’26.
That was one of the headline takeaways from KPMG’s Venture Pulse Q1 2026. The consultancy flagged that the war brought IPO activity across several regions to an abrupt halt and made life considerably harder for startups worldwide that had been counting on Gulf capital to scale.
On the M&A side, the number of deals announced in the region fell from 70 in February to just 37 in March. But while volumes dropped, values moved sharply in the opposite direction. In aggregate, Gulf acquisition spending has risen by more than 120% since the conflict began, with roughly $47bn deployed across deals.
Outbound deals dominated those stats, but are they purely strategic moves or does this signal capital flowing away? LSEG data points that M&A with a Gulf target is down 65% year-on-year, while the region’s sovereign funds have kept deploying capital abroad, with PIF, Mubadala and QIA alone combining for nearly $25bn in new investments over the quarter.
This week’s standout deals are:
- Kingdom Holding Company agreed to acquire 70% of the soccer team Al Hilal Club from PIF for SAR 840m, based on an enterprise value of SAR 1.4bn for the full club. This is the first privatisation under the Saudi Sports Clubs Investments and Privatization Project launched in July 2023, when PIF first took controlling stakes in Al Hilal, Al Nassr, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli.
- Abu Dhabi’s DIAFA completed a majority investment in Richard Caring‘s hospitality portfolio for around £1.4bn, taking control of marquee assets including The Ivy brasseries, Caprice and The Birley Clubs.
- Aldar and Mubadala‘s joint venture acquired The Link at Masdar City for AED 654m, adding a fully leased commercial asset anchored by tenants including Masdar and MBZUAI.
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Deals Tracker
Outbound M&A
- Asia | Masdar and TotalEnergies pooled solar, wind and battery plans across nine Asian markets into a $2.2bn JV, skipping the country-by-country route.
- Australia | Brookfield sold a minority in La Trobe Financial to Axight at a $2.2bn valuation.
- Denmark | EIIC took a minority in Joe & The Juice at a $1.8bn valuation, with General Atlantic still the majority holder.
- Greece/Cyprus | Alshaya took over the Starbucks licence in Greece and Cyprus, inheriting 48 stores.
- India | 2PointZero and Adani Green formed a renewables JV to co-develop projects in India.
- Italy | EGA is moving for majority control of Eco Green, which would take group recycling capacity above 400,000 tonnes a year.
- Italy | Kering sold an 80% interest in its Via Monte Napoleone Milan property vehicle to Al Mirqab Group
- United Kingdom | DIAFA agreed to take majority control of Richard Caring’s hospitality portfolio in a $1.8bn deal.
- United Kingdom | Saudi Energy bought into Kraken and set up a Riyadh JV for exclusive MENA distribution.
- United Kingdom | Asyad Group acquired the UK-based startup Ligentia.
- United States | ACES acquired Meskel & Associates Engineering, adding US construction and engineering headcount.
The rumour mill
- Bahrain | Bahrain Family Leisure confirmed it will proceed with the reverse merger with Truffle Hospitality.
- Bahrain | Investcorp Capital deployed $200m into US residential real estate across multifamily and senior housing assets.
- Egypt | Egyptian Resorts Company is in talks over a stake sale, with Sahl Hasheesh on the table.
- Qatar | Qatari-backed Irth remained in the frame for Papa John’s as sale talks narrowed ahead of the pizza chain’s earnings.
- UAE | Abu Dhabi is weighing a merger of L’imad and Mubadala’s China assets.
- UAE | ADNOC is in advanced talks to buy Shell’s South African fuel retail network.
- UAE | EDGE’s $760m Fire Point bid hit a procedural setback at Ukraine’s antitrust body, sending the drone maker deal back for review.
- UAE | Mubadala entered early talks with Petrobras over a potential buyback of the Brazilian refinery it acquired from the state oil company.
- UAE | XRG is scanning Europe for buyout targets, according to regional coverage of the ADNOC investment arm.
Job moves
- Qatar | Commercial Bank appointed Eiman al-Naemi as Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Omran al-Sherawi as EGM Treasury and Investments, and Nasser al-Harmi as Chief Human Capital Officer.
- Saudi Arabia | Al Majdiah reappointed Khaled Al Majed as Chairman and Majed Al Majed as Vice Chairman.
- Saudi Arabia | TAM accepted its CEO’s resignation and appointed Firas Almatrafi as successor.
- Saudi Arabia | Tibbiyah reappointed Ziad Al Tunisi as Chairman.
- UAE | Arthur D. Little Middle East promoted Maurice Salem, Prithweesh Ghosh and Yiğit Saf to partner.
- UAE | Nakhle Elhage joined International Media Investments as Chief Transformation Officer.
IPOs
- Egypt | Banque du Caire is holding to a Q2 IPO window, with pre-listing roadshow discussions already underway.
- Egypt | Cairo temporarily listed six state-owned firms on EGX under its IPO programme.
- Egypt | Ten petroleum companies are being prepared for temporary EGX listings under the privatisation push.
- Egypt | Egypt has temporarily listed six state-owned companies on the EGX, aiming to accelerate the government’s initial IPO programme and increase private sector participation.
- Qatar | KPMG sees Doha IPOs and energy listings as a medium to long-term post-war revival story.
- Saudi Arabia | Marble Design got board sign-off to leave Nomu for TASI.
- Saudi Arabia | Qomel published its board report on the planned TASI transition.
- Saudi Arabia | Shalfa’s board approved the transition from Nomu to TASI.
- UAE | Al Ramz opened subscriptions for two open-ended GCC investment funds via IPO, running through mid-May.
Fundraising
- Egypt | EBRD extended a $65m loan to HAU Energy for a solar and storage project.
- Egypt | Edita secured an $11.6m loan.
- Egypt | Egyptian and Saudi backers launched a $38m entertainment investment platform in Egypt.
- Egypt | Halan AZ’s real estate fund closed its inaugural tranche in partnership with Brassbell Hospitality Group.
- Egypt | INVIA raised $1.2m to build an AI-powered financial operating system for SMEs.
- Egypt | Lucky raised $23m in Series B to expand credit products and push further into North Africa.
- Egypt | Reme-D secured GIF backing to scale room-temperature diagnostics and cut diagnostic costs by 40%.
- Egypt | Sinai.ai raised $1.45m in pre-seed funding to build interactive AI-native books.
- Kuwait | A Beyout subsidiary arranged a $7.24m loan with Kuwait International Bank.
- Kuwait | Aayan Leasing and Investment secured a $113.5m loan.
- Kuwait | United Real Estate signed an $81m loan with a local bank.
- MENA | Early April saw startup rounds close across multiple sectors despite the Iran conflict.
- MENA | Speedinvest launched its flagship MENA fund with backing from Mubadala, QIA and EIB Global.
- Mexico | QIA joined Plata’s Series C round alongside existing backers.
- Qatar | Sufra AI received a $100,000 cheque as the first investment from Snoonu’s Startup Factory.
- Saudi Arabia | Academy of Learning secured a $30.3m credit facility.
- Saudi Arabia | Aramco Ventures joined Via Separations’ $36m round for industrial climate tech.
- Saudi Arabia | AVA secured strategic investment from Plug and Play to push further into cashless and unattended payments.
- Saudi Arabia | Aya closed a $7m Series A for its on-demand fashion model.
- Saudi Arabia | ElGoat raised $266,000 in seed funding for a skill-based football gaming platform.
- Saudi Arabia | Gulf sovereign investors are among the backers financing Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros Discovery deal.
- Saudi Arabia | Jozo closed a $2.2m seed round for its proptech platform.
- Saudi Arabia | Maison Safqa closed a $620,000 pre-seed backed by Sanabil 500.
- Saudi Arabia | PIF agreed to anchor King Street’s MENA credit fund.
- Saudi Arabia | Saudi Venture Capital committed capital to the Growth Catalyst Fund.
- Saudi Arabia | Scientific & Medical Equipment secured a $69.3m credit facility.
- Saudi Arabia | Signit raised a $15m Series A to expand from e-signatures into AI-powered contract management.
- UAE | Aldar secured $1.36bn in sustainability-linked credit tied to performance targets.
- UAE | Homegrown Ventures closed Fund I at $22.8m, above its initial target, focused on MENA consumer brands.
- UAE | LSE-listed Dar Global secured a $250m term loan.
- UAE | Mubadala Capital closed a $900m Brazil-focused fund.
- UAE | Ray launched in Dubai with $1.2m in seed funding for its powerbank-sharing service.
