Good morning, friends. It’s a capital-markets-heavy kind of morning in the Kingdom, with plenty of action on both the debt and equities front after a relatively slow start to the week.

#1- Drugmaker Avalon Pharma will make its debut on Tadawul in a few hours’ time.Shares from its SAR 492 mn IPO open at SAR 82 apiece. The offering saw heavy demand from retail and institutional investors earlier this month.

Avalon’s shares will be allowed to trade in a ±30% band on each of their first three days in the market before being capped at no more than 10% up or down after that before circuit breakers kick in. (All shares on Tadawul are subject to the 10% up-or-down rule.)

#2- We also have our eyes on Amiantit’s tradable rights issue, which kicks off today. The Dammam-based pipe and industrial products manufacturer aims to increase its total capital by 4x or so. The subscription period wraps up on Sunday, 10 March.

AND- We have news this morning of three debt transactions, including the PIF’s plan to again tap the international bond market, Saudi German Health’s SAR 1 bn sukuk sale, and Alinma Bank looking to raise tier 1 capital through the sale of USD-denominate AT1 certificates.

WEATHER- Expect clear skies in Riyadh today and a pleasantly sunny day in Taif and Alula. Enjoy the day: The wind will pick up and temperature plunge in the capital city as we slide toward the weekend.

  • Riyadh: 24°C daytime / 10°C overnight
  • Taif: 25°C daytime / 12°C overnight
  • AlUla: 25°C daytime / 10°C overnight

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- A regional HQ for the IMF here? The Shura Council has approved a draft headquarters agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund that could see the multilateral lender set up a regional office in Riyadh, according to a post on X yesterday. No further details were provided.

#2- Another Adnoc subsidiary has plans for the Kingdom: Adnoc Distribution, a subsidiary UAE state-owned oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), plans to ramp up its presence in both Saudi and Egypt, it said in a disclosure to ADX (pdf) yesterday.

BACKGROUND- Sister company Adnoc Drilling is looking to grow its operations across the Middle East, including Saudi, Kuwait and Oman, CFO Youssef Salem said last week. It is investing USD 750-950 mn on rig procurement to cover deployment needs for target countries by the end of the year, he said.

#3- The General Authority for Competition has not quashed retail giant Panda’s acquisition of an IT services firm it is looking to acquire, Saad Al Masoud, a spokesman for the competition watchdog, told Al Eqtisadiah yesterday. The clarification came after GAC fined Panda and the IT firm SAR 400k each for what it said was a failure to file notice of the planned transaction.

#4- Bonjour, mes amis! 40 French companies discussed potential investments in the Kingdom during a meeting organized by the Saudi French Business Council and the French Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Saudi Chambers (CSA) said in a post on X yesterday. Names of the participating French companies were not disclosed.

AND- ¡Hola España! The Saudi Spanish Business Council separately discussed with Princess Haifa Al Mogrin, the Saudi envoy to Spain, a plan to boost business ties, CSA said in a separate post.

#5- The more footie here, the merrier: Fifa has partnered with Saudi to launch its first series of men’s international friendlies in March, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The Kingdom will host two of the four-team pools that include Algeria, Bolivia, Bulgaria and South Africa. The Fifa Series games, which will be played from 18-26 March, include 20 national teams. Only four of the teams taking part in the games took part in the World Cup: Algeria, Bolivia, Bulgaria and South Africa.

We know this was in the works: The new friendlies project by the world football governing body was first floated by Fifa President Gianni Infantino during the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Fifa hopes to have teams from different regions meet more often in a bid to raise competitiveness.

#6- SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT- We’re not friends yet: An unnamed official official has denied media reports that Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi met with Israeli Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat at the World Trade Organization’s ministerial gathering in Abu Dhabi yesterday, state news agency SPA yesterday. The Israeli minister reportedly only shook hands with Al Qasabi as the latter was standing with his Nigerian counterpart before introducing himself as minister, the source said.

ALSO worth knowing about this morning:

  • Alinma Investment Company received regulatory approval for two university endowment funds (details here and here)
  • The government is set to invest SAR 6 bn on environmental compliance initiatives by 2030 (SPA)

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

Joe Biden thinks we could see a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza “by Monday,” saying, “Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend, by the end of the weekend. My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”

Biden’s remarks were spontaneous and in response to a question from reporters, Reuters and the New York Times report. The news came as the Palestinian Authority government stepped down amid Arab and US calls for reform and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu presented his cabinet with a plan for the evacuation of Rafah ahead of the IDF’s planned assault on the city.

AND- Things are relatively quiet in Abu Dhabi, where World Trade Organization leaders are trying to temper expectations that sweeping changes to how the global trade system works could emerge from the ministerial. EnterpriseAM UAE has the full rundown on day one of the gathering in this morning’s edition.

The big question: Will India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, said to be a holdout on key issues, appear in Abu Dhabi today after skipping yesterday’s opening?

PLUS- Goldman Sachs revised its forecast for summer peak Brent upwards to USD 87 a barrel, citing disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea, Reuters reported yesterday. Goldman expects Brent to stay within the USD 70-USD 90 range on the back of a dampened price volatility despite the crisis in the Red Sea.

From Planet Finance:

#1- Citigroup is looking to regain its dealmaking mojo after hiring Viswas Raghavan from JPMorgan Chase to run its new banking division. Raghavan will report directly to CEO Jane Fraser, who’s in the midst of the biggest restructuring of Citi in decades. Raghavan had just been promoted to become the sole head of investment banking at JPM last month. The story is getting plenty of ink from the Financial Times and Bloomberg.

#2- Jacob Rothschild passes away: Banker and philanthropist Jacob Rothschild, a seventh-generation heir of the Rothschild banking dynasty, died yesterday at the age of 87, according to an announcement by the Rothschild Foundation — a British charity he led. The story is everywhere in the foreign press: Bloomberg | Reuters | NY Times | The Guardian | Wall Street Journal.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Riyadh will host the International Conference on Sand and Dust Storms in the Arabian Peninsulafrom Monday, 4 March to Wednesday, 6 March. The conference will address regional challenges caused by sand and dust storms and discuss monitoring systems, mitigation strategies, economic and infrastructural impacts, and more.

Tickets are on sale for the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, scheduled for Jeddah from 7-9 March.

Riyadh will host a World Economic Forum special meeting on 28-29 April.

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

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