THIS MORNING: STC is still in the running for a piece of Altice in Portugal

Good morning, wonderful people. We hope you had a restful weekend full of family, friends, and good food.

We have a weighty issue for you this morning with plenty of news from the Public Investment Fund, a report that three Bulge Bracket stalwarts are in line to quarterback a blockbuster share sale for Aramco, and news that Cenomi Retail has completed the sale of a portfolio of non-core brands as it doubles down on its champions,

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

Some 300 brands will be on display at Beautyworld Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s largest exhibition for the beauty and wellbeing sectors. The Saudi beauty industry is worth as much as USD 500 mn per year, organizers say. The event runs through Tuesday at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The Global Smart Cities Forum kicks off tomorrow in Riyadh and wraps up on Tuesday. The forum, organized by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), features over 80 speakers from 40 nations worldwide for talks on strategies for fostering sustainable urban development.

WEATHER- It’s shaping up to be a sunny, breezy and pleasant day in Riyadh and Jeddah with morning showers and scattered clouds in the cards for Dammam.

• Riyadh: 25°C daytime / 9°C overnight
• Jeddah: 28°C daytime / 18°C overnight
• Dammam: 22°C daytime / 15°C overnight

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Saudi Telecom (STC) is still in the running for a stake in telecom group Altice Portugal, with Bloomberg reporting that the operator is among a handful of suitors that have been invited to the second round of bidding. French telecoms firm Iliad and a consortium led by global private equity firm Warburg Pincus are also in the running to buy a stake in Portugal’s largest network operator.

Background: Interest from STC, which is 64% owned by the Public Investment Fund, and others come as media empire owner and Israeli b’naire Patrick Drahi looks to sell shares and pay down debt, as we noted in December.

#6- TheCapital Market Authority (CMA) has asked prosecutors to file charges against a group of investors, it said in a statement last week. The CMA claims the group tried to manipulate the share price and closing prices of shares in 52 listed companies. The CME did not name any of those it is asking prosecutors to charge.

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DATA POINT- Riyadh Season events attracted some 17 mn visits since the start of the festival in October, state news agency SPA says. that’s well over the 10-12 mn figure organizers were hoping to see pass through the festival, which runs until March.

SPORTS-

Al Hilal was crowned Riyadh Season Cup champion after beating Ronaldo’s Al Nassr 2-0 in the final game on Thursday. The friendly tournament saw Al Hilal, Al Nassr and Inter Miami face off in a table format, with all the teams playing each other once. Al Hilal finished on top with a perfect record of 6 points.

MORNING MUST READ-

#1- Our very own “From the Ashes” has been racking up views on Netflix, the National reports.

In detail: As of 4 February, the Netflix original has dominated weekly non-English top-10 lists in Jamaica, Luxembourg, Spain, Egypt, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago, amassing 7.6 mn views and 11.6 mn hours watched. The Netflix production recounts the harrowing real-life story of an all-girls school engulfed in flames, and the terrifying nightmare that follows the girls in the institution.

For the record: “People from across the world want to learn about different people, and hear new stories. That makes me so happy, because here in Saudi Arabia, we still have lots of stories we want to tell to the world,” its director Khalid Fahad told The National.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The age of the two men who are vying to become America’s oldest-ever president is front and center in the United States after a press conference on Thursday in which US President Joe Biden cleared, “My memory is fine.”

Biden mistakenly described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi as the president of Mexico (watch, runtime; 12:35) at a press conference called to address claims in a special prosecutor’s decision not to recommend Biden be charged with mishandling state secrets. The report said in part that Biden was a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who has “diminished faculties in advancing age.”

Both Biden and Trump have made high-profile gaffes in recent weeks. Biden has twice referred to recent conversations he’s had with long-dead European leaders, while Trump has confused the leaders of Hungary and Turkey, said he defeated Barack Obama (not Hilary Clinton) for the presidency, and confused his primary challenger, Nikki Haley, with former house speaker Nancy Pelosi.

It has all raised questions: How old is too old to be president?And while we’re at it: Why is the age question hurting Biden more than Trump?

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Saudi Capital Market Forum will open on Monday, 19 February and wrap up on Tuesday. Held under the theme “Powering Growth,” the event will bring together members of the global financial landscape for discussions on the capital markets and investment strategies.

The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale will kick off in Diriyah on Tuesday, 20 February and wrap up on Friday, 24 May. Headlined After Rain, it will be led by German curator Ute Meta Bauer and features 92 artists from 43 countries. It will see several new commissions, including a joint project documenting “Saudi futurism” since the 1940s by local artist Ahmed Mater and Berlin-based photographer Armin Linke.

The Future Investment Initiative (FII) will host a two-day priority summit in Miami starting Thursday, 22 February.

The annual tech event LEAP will open in Riyadh on Monday, 4 March and continue through Thursday, 7 March. Dubbed the “Digital Davos”, the event will bring together the global tech industry for discussions on the future of technology.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.