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Good morning, friends. We’re nearing the end of what felt like a particularly long week — but we’re grateful the news cycle has let up a bit.
It’s another M&A-heavy day, with an otherwise mixed bag of news spanning debt, energy, and logistics. The biggest stories to keep an eye out for are Ras Al Khaimah government’s move to up its stake in RAK Properties, an AED 865 mn syndicated loan for an Al Seer Marine JV, and the completion of Abu Dhabi National Hotels’ buyout of Compass Group’s stake in their JV.
We also have part two of our sit-down with our friends at Mashreq’s Fernando Morillo — a must-read for fellow banking and AI nerds.
So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 6:37pm in Dubai and 6:40pm in Abu Dhabi, and you have until 5am to hydrate and caffeinate ahead of Fajr in Abu Dhabi, and until 4:56am in Dubai.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS-
#1- WEATHER- Expect another sunny, windy day in Dubai, with the mercury hitting 28°C before falling to an overnight low of 18°C. In Abu Dhabi, similar conditions will see a daytime high of 27°C and an overnight low of 21°C.
#2-Employers subject to the pension law must register their Emirati employees within 30 days of their employment and report service charges to the General Pension & Social Security Authority (GPSSA), the authority said in a statement. Employers must notify the GPSSA within 15 days when Emirati employees leave, or face penalties of AED 200 per day of delay. Delays in salary payments are subject to penalties of AED 100 per day, while non-payment incurs a 10% extra charge.
WATCH THIS SPACE-
#1-Is the government mulling the introduction of golden licenses for businesses? The UAE’s Economic Integration Committee has reportedly discussed a proposal to introduce 10-year golden licenses and five-year silver licenses for businesses at a meeting yesterday, Gulf News reports, without providing further details. The licenses would come in a bid to boost government revenues and stimulate business activity, the outlet said.
#2- Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ is considering a bid for Poland’s largest poultry and meat producer, Cedrob Group, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Initial bids for the company are expected in April, with Cedrob appealing to ADQ as a means to ramp up food security in the Gulf, the sources added. The size of the sale was not disclosed, but Bloomberg previously reported that the Polish company was weighing a sale that would value it at near USD 2 bn.
It’s not the first time ADQ invests in food security: Since covid-19, ADQ has doubled down on its efforts to secure food supplies. In 2020, the wealth fund snagged a 45% stake in European agricultural trader Louis Dreyfus for an undisclosed amount, and poured USD 1 bn into Middle Eastern hypermarket chain giant LuLu Group to help fund its expansion in Egypt.
DATA POINTS-
#1-The UAE has 24 b’naires, putting it 22nd on the Hurun Global Rich List 2024, which measures the number of USD b’naires around the world. The UAE’s ranking dropped y-o-y despite four new b’naires being added to the country’s tally. Dubai came in 28th place on a city level — also down from last year’s ranking — with 21 b’naires living in the city, two more than the previous year.
#2-The USD 1 bn Mother’s Endowment Fund has raised AED 770 mn since its launch two weeks ago to improve education worldwide, The National reports.
Dubai-based real estate developer Azizi Developments donated AED 600 mn yesterday to the initiative to fund the establishment of an educational complex in Dubai, marking “one of the largest ever charitable donations in the UAE,” Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed said on X.
HAPPENING TODAY-
The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority will be on the agenda for the Sharjah Consultative Council (SCC) when it meets today, Wam reports. The SCC will discuss unspecified recommendations related to the authority based on an SCC report.
HAPPENING NEXT WEEK-
#1- CBUAE to hold AED 29 bn m-bill auction: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) will auction four m-bills worth up to AED 29 bn next Monday, 1 April, according to a statement (pdf). One of the m-bills is a tap issuance, and the four have tenors ranging from 28 to 336 days.
Decoding central bank speak: M-bills are short-term securities issued in AED by the CBUAE at no interest. The bonds typically have maturity dates of one to 12 months and are not retrievable through any other listing. A tap issuance allows the CBUAE to more finely control money supply by allowing it the flexibility to continue selling bills past the initial auction date.
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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-
There’s no single story capturing the imagination of the global press this morning, but watchers of the green economy will want to pay attention here:
Janet Yellen is stirring the pot with China, warning Beijing against dumping key components of the global green economy on other markets.
Yellen claims China is dumping excess production of solar panels, EVs, and lithium ion batteries on other countries. She said the practice “distorts global prices and production patterns and hurts American firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world.”
Why the fuss? Western economies are scrambling to catch up to China on clean-tech manufacturing. They see it as critical to energy security, to the green transition, and to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the west. The US is offering tax breaks and subsidies to everyone from green hydrogen producers (hello, Inflation Reduction Act) to key component makers, sparking competition with Canada and the European Union.
Why now? Yellen was speaking on the eve of her second trip to Beijing as US treasury secretary.
Read more: Head to our website for links to stories from the Financial Times and CNBC.
ON A RELATED NOTE- EV and business nerds alike (Elon stans, not so much) will enjoy this morning’s analysis from the Wall Street Journal, which writes that Chinese EV maker “BYD’s rise challenges Tesla — and its valuation. The companies are increasingly close peers while being valued completely differently.”
Tesla is worth about 7x more, and “it takes a lot of faith in Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk’s promise of autonomy to rationalize the difference,” the Journal suggests.
