Author
Harsh Batra
Harsh Batra
Everyone is talking about the Anthropic IPO this week, and it would be strange not to. I’m not sure what draws more attention: the trillion-dollar valuation or what it represents. There’s an AI flood coming to capital markets, and yes, there’s money to be made there. But Steve Brice, global chief investment officer of wealth solutions at Standard Chartered, offered a different perspective on CNBC’s “Access Middle East”.
“There’s going to be some digestion challenges of these IPOs coming through the market, and some of the broadening out usually does take place well, but it doesn’t necessarily happen in a totally smooth fashion,” Brice said.
His concern isn’t unwarranted. The arrival of giants like Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX will pull an enormous amount of capital into a handful of names, and that money has to come from somewhere. Most likely from positions investors already hold elsewhere.
What makes it worth watching from here is the timing. Brice expects “some weakness at some point over the summer months,” and notes it “would fit into what’s happening in the Middle East as well.” He stops short of linking the two, but for this region the overlap is hard to ignore: a broad market wobble landing just as oil spikes and the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz keeps a risk premium on the table.
While you wait for more details on the listings, don’t miss the deals of the fortnight.
The highlights are:
- One of the hottest outbound deals of the year now has both an open offer and the approval of India’s central bank. Emirates NBD‘s acquisition of up to a 26% stake in RBL Bank is on. Public shareholders can tender shares from June 1, with the offer closing on June 12. If accepted, the proposed deal would move 117.35 billion rupees (USD 1.37 billion).
- Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council approved the merger of Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company into Kuwait National Petroleum Company, with KNPC set to absorb KIPIC’s assets, rights and obligations in a major restructuring of the country’s downstream oil, gas and petrochemicals sector.
- Uber agreed to acquire a 12.5% stake in Careem Technologies from UAE telecoms group e& for USD 100m, reducing e&’s holding in the super-app to 37.53% while giving Uber additional exposure to one of the region’s most prominent mobility and digital services platforms.
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Deals Tracker
The rumour mill
- Oman | EFG Hermes announced today the successful conclusion of its advisory role for PIF’s Saudi Omani Investment Company (SOIC) as Sole Global Coordinator on the first Accelerated Bookbuild (ABB) in Oman. The ABB involved a sale of SOIC’s stake in OQ Base Industries (OQBI), placing 127,136,289 shares for a total value of USD 92.5 million on behalf of SOIC
- Qatar | Estithmar Holding is weighing plans to take its healthcare subsidiary, Apex Health, public — a move that could inject momentum into the country’s underactive equity market
- Saudi Arabia | First announced in the second week of May, the deal for United Mining Industries Co. to acquire the remaining 100% of shares in Knauf International GmbH is still under discussion. This follows Knauf’s recent acquisition of a 63.2% stake in United Mining from major shareholders in a deal valued at SAR 504.5 million and the proposal is expected to be submitted as soon as possible after the related negotiated deal is completed
- UAE | Brookfield, TA Associates and Cloudnine Group of Hospitals are circling Fakih IVF Fertility Center for a deal that could be worth up to USD 1bn
- UAE | The Competition and Tariff Commission (CTC) approved the acquisition of Makasa Sun by Dubai-based ASB Hospitality LLC, stating that the US$30 million transaction will not harm market competition but will instead revive a major dormant tourism asset in the resort city of Victoria Falls. The deal was first announced in November 2025
Outbound M&A
- France | Aluminium Bahrain has agreed to acquire Aluminium Dunkerque, the European Union’s largest aluminium smelter, in a deal valued at about $2.2 billion
- Germany | AD Ports Group will acquire Germany-based integrated logistics services provider MBS Logistics, maintaining the momentum of the Abu Dhabi-based group’s buying spree. The agreement values the target at an enterprise value of AED 300 million
- Greece | QIA announced its participation as an anchor investor in the share capital increase of Public Power Corporation S.A. The offering was oversubscribed multiple times, raising €4.25 billion from primary shares plus an additional €250 million through a secondary placement of treasury shares, priced at €18.63 per share
- India | India’s central bank has approved the monster deal in which Emirates NBD Bank acquires a majority stake in Mumbai-based RBL Bank. The proposal allows for the transfer of up to 74% of RBL Bank’s share capital, requiring Emirates NBD to maintain at least 51% ownership. The RBI capped Emirates NBD’s voting rights at 26% of RBL Bank’s total voting rights
- Italy | The Saudi El-Khereiji family is the new investor in Italian hospitality group Gruppo Barletta. The deal comes through a €166m capital increase also involving Italy’s Rovati family, valuing the company at €1.172bn post-money
- Malaysia | Aramco and PETRONAS Malaysia announced an agreement for the transfer of Aramco’s equity stakes in Pengerang Refining Company and Pengerang Petrochemical Company Sdn Bhd
- Netherlands | Saudi’s Elsewedy Electric announced the acquisition of a 60% majority stake in Thomassen Service. The transaction includes Thomassen Service’s Middle East and Africa operations (TSME), its filter manufacturing unit, and its Africa-based subsidiary
- UK | Dubai’s Select Group has acquired three Delta Hotels by Marriott golf and country club resorts in the United Kingdom. The purchase spans Delta Hotels Breadsall Priory Country Club in Derbyshire, Delta Hotels St. Pierre Country Club in Chepstow, Wales, and Delta Hotels Tudor Park Country Club in Maidstone, Kent
- Uruguay | QatarEnergy has acquired interests in three offshore exploration blocks in Uruguay from a subsidiary of Shell. The deal marks QatarEnergy’s first entry into the South American country’s upstream energy sector
- USA | Bahrain’s investment firm Investcorp announced the acquisition of a diversified industrial real estate portfolio located across key U.S. distribution markets. The deal comprises a portfolio that is 97% occupied and leased, spanning 19 industrial properties totaling approximately 1.4 million square feet across Dallas–Fort Worth, Chicago, Indianapolis and Cincinnati
- USA | OIA made a partial exit from its investment in US-based AI company Crusoe. The sovereign wealth fund said the transaction generated an annual internal rate of return of 68% and a return multiple of 10.3 times invested capital
Job moves
- Saudi Arabia | LIVA appoints Mohamed Altoolbani as CEO
- Saudi Arabia | Luberef names Yasser Mufti new Chairman as Al Buainain resigns
- Saudi Arabia | Nayifat names Khalid AlJenaidel as CEO
- Saudi Arabia | On the regulatory side, RCRC appoints PLANET to lead the Riyadh cooling project
- Saudi Arabia | Saudi Re appoints Alsudairy Chairman and Al-Shumaisi Vice Chairman
IPOs
- Bahrain | GAMUDA BHD announced the issuance of 200,000 new shares at an exercise price of MYR 1.2750
- Egypt | Korra Energi’s IPO closed 31.35x oversubscribed, floating 247.5 million shares (an 11% stake) at EGP 2.97 apiece to raise up to EGP 735m. The private placement (60%) ran 18–24 May and the retail tranche (40%) 19–25 May, in the EGX’s second private-sector listing of 2026
- Egypt | Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly directed companies approved for listing on the EGX to complete the sale of their designated stakes before the end of the year
- Egypt | Private equity firm B Investments is preparing pharmacy chain El Ezaby for an IPO on the EGX. No timeline was disclosed
- Kuwaiti | Goldman Sachs is working on a potential initial public offering of a Kuwaiti online beauty and fashion retailer, a deal that could mark the Wall Street bank’s first listing mandate in the Gulf nation as it seeks to expand there
- Oman | Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO) will offer 25% of its share capital in an IPO, with shares set to list on the Muscat Stock Exchange in July. Bank Muscat and Societe Generale are joint global coordinators, with Arqaam Capital and United Securities as joint bookrunners. It marks the Sultanate’s first IPO since the US-Iran war
- Saudi Arabia | Advanced Building Industries (SENAAT) said its subsidiary, Gulf Insulation Group, applied to register its shares and proceed with an IPO on TASI. The proposal remains subject to regulatory approval
- Saudi Arabia | Masqa Investment (MSGA) announced details of its Nomu IPO: it will issue 11.11 million new shares (10% of post-listing capital), with subscription open to qualified investors from 17–24 June. Yaqeen Capital is financial adviser and bookrunner
- Saudi Arabia | MGC seeks up to $799M in Riyadh IPO; price range SAR 11–12.5
- UAE | Biotech firm Insilico Medicine Cayman TopCo is considering a secondary listing in Abu Dhabi, which would make it the first company from outside the Gulf to list on a regional exchange
Fundraising
- Egypt | Egypt raised $1 billion through an eight-year USD-denominated social and development bond, priced at a 7.6% yield with orders exceeding five times the target. It is the first social bond issuance in MENA since the start of the Iran war. HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Citi led
- Oman | Dhofar Islamic issued its first sukuk, worth OMR 5 million at a 5% profit rate, via private placement on the Muscat Stock Exchange
- Oman | Oman Arab Bank raises $400mln from AT1 PNC 5.5-year Capital Securities
- Oman | Sohar International Bank closed its mandatory convertible bond issue at roughly OMR 26.47 million ($68.84 million), covering 259.5 million Tier 1 bonds compulsorily convertible into ordinary shares at maturity, to reinforce its capital base
- Saudi Arabia | Armah secures SAR 110M credit facility from SNB
- Saudi Arabia | Azm secures SAR 75M credit facility from SAIB
- Saudi Arabia | Dar Al Arkan raises $600mln from a five-year sukuk priced at 7.25%
- Saudi Arabia | iOud sukuk issuance raises $13.32mln
- Saudi Arabia | Riyadh-born payments and billing fintech Stream secured a $5.2 million seed extension led by BECO Capital, with STV, Flourish Ventures and Arab Bank participating, bringing total seed funding to $9.2 million
- Saudi Arabia | SAB inks SAR 6.4B financing agreement with Al Bawani
- Saudi Arabia | The National Debt Management Center (NDMC) closed its May 2026 issuance under the Local Sukuk Program at SAR 2.418 billion ($643.5 million) across five tranches maturing between 2031 and 2041
- UAE | CargoX, an Abu Dhabi-based autonomous delivery platform led by former Talabat CEO Tomaso Rodriguez, raised $250 million from an investor group led by BlueFive Capital to scale its driverless logistics network across the UAE and international markets
- UAE | Core42 raises $550 million to scale AI infrastructure across the U.S. and Europe
