Good morning, wonderful people, and happy hump day to you all. The traditional post-summer news pickup continues to gain steam, and Western markets are making things even more interesting for us today after Nvidia shares plunged yesterday, setting off a tech-led selldown on Wall Street that has spread this morning to Asia.

Closer to home: We have a packed issue for you, with news of IPOs, M&As, and more.

BUT FIRST- Egypt’s business community has snapped its losing streak. Non-oil private sector activity there expanded in August for the first time in over three years, S&P Global’s Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index shows, according to EnterpriseAM Egypt. The report pointed to more stable demand conditions thanks to “market recovery amid improved macro-economic factors and rising export business” as an important reason behind activity finally increasing.

How did we do here in the UAE last month? The S&P PMI for the Emirates is due out in about an hour. Tap or click here to read the report.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- The order book for NMDC Energy’s ADX IPO was 14x oversubscribed as day four of the subscription period came to a close yesterday, according to a statement. Today is the last day for investors to get their orders in.

BACKGROUND- NMDC is listing a 23% stake in its engineering, procurement, and construction unit NMDC Energy on the ADX. The transaction is due to wrap up on 11 September. Offer shares are priced at AED 2.80 each, valuing the transaction at AED 3.22 bn. NMDC’s board approved the IPO last month.

#2- Adia and co-investors to shed USD 1.2 bn stake in SIX Swiss Exchange-listed Galderma: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), alongside private equity firms EQT and Auba Investment, is looking to sell USD 1.2 bn worth of shares in Swiss skincare company Galderma to investors, according to a statement picked up by Bloomberg.

Investor appetite looks good: The business information service says advisors had lined up enough demand “shortly after launch” to fully cover the transaction, which equates to a 5.5% stake in Galderma.

ADVISORS- Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and UBS are managing the sale.

REMEMBER- Adia and other shareholders sold a 10% stake in the skincare giant to France’s L’Oréal last month in a transaction valued at USD 1.85 bn. The shareholders held a combined 77.21% of the company before the selldown started.

BACKGROUND-Adia, Swedish private equity company EQT, and Singapore’s GIC acquired Galderma — formerly Nestlé Skin Health — for CHF 10.2 bn (c.USD 11.9 bn) from Nestlé in 2019. Initially established as a 50/50 JV between L’Oréal and Nestlé, L’Oréal sold off its 50% ownership stake in Galderma to Nestlé in 2014. The company listed on the SIX back in March of this year.

#3- Adia-backed Indian solar cell manufacturer Premier Energies saw its share price more than in its trading debut on the Bombay Stock Exchange, closing at INR 838.90 (AED 36.70) each, Live Mint reports. That’s an 86% jump from the offer price of INR 450 apiece. The company’s IPO drew INR 28.30 bn worth of overs as investors flocked to the share, generating a 74x oversubscription rate.

ICYMI- Adia invested INR 379.5 mn (AED 16.61 mn) in Premier Energies last month as an anchor investor ahead of its IPO, acquiring a 4.5% stake in the company. Adia acquired the shares at a share price of INR 450 (AED 19.7).

#4- UAE’s largest aluminum recycling plant to go live in 2026: Mubadala-backed Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is on track to start operations at “the UAE’s largest aluminum recycling plant,” by 2026, the company said, saying construction at the Al Taweelah facility progressed in 1H 2024.

BACKGROUND- Construction on the plant began last November. It’s set to have an annual production capacity of 170k tons of low-carbon, high quality premium aluminum billets.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Dubai property sales jumped 41% y-o-y in August to AED 47.3 bn, according to a report by real estate agency Fäm Properties. Growth was driven by a 38% y-o-y increase in transaction volume as 16k units changed hands — and a 6.1% y-o-y rise in the average price per sq-ft to AED 1.49. August marked the second-highest month for sales value this year, trailing behind AED 49.6 bn in July from some 15.9k transactions.

Land sales led the growth, with 1.4k plots sold for AED 15.1 bn. Apartment sales amounted to AED 23.5 bn, with over 12k units sold, while villa sales reached AED 8 bn from 2.1k transactions. Commercial property sales totaled AED 674 mn from 369 transactions.

#2- DFM’s index DFMI surged to a 10-year high yesterday, climbing 0.3% to 4369.83 points, its highest level since 2014, Sky News Arabia reported.

#3- Abu Dhabi’s non-oil exports rose to AED 40.14 bn in 2Q 2024, up 10% y-o-y from AED 36 bn in 2Q 2023, according to the latest data (pdf) from the emirate’s statistics center. This growth was driven by the robust activity in the business sector, with exports growing to AED 39.7 bn, largely due to an increase in gold exports, which boosted the value of goods classified under the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) to AED 15.52 bn, the center said. On the import side, Abu Dhabi’s non-oil imports dipped 3% y-o-y in 2Q to AED 33.85 bn.

#4- Some 79% of Emirati would consider making their next car an EV, according to a report by AutoData Middle East. EV sales are on track to account for 15% of the UAE market by 2030, AutoData said.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS-

#1- REMINDER- Resident legal entities with licenses issued in July of any year should submit their corporate tax registration applications by the end of September, Wam reports, citing the Federal Tax Authority. You can register via the EmaraTax digital tax services platform or through accredited tax agents and government service centers across the country. Corporates with multiple licenses should register using the license with the earliest issuance date.

#2- Autonomous mobility players will now have until 20 October to apply for the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport 2025, according to the Dubai Government Media Office. Participants can either join on their own or form groups. There’s a USD 3 mn purse on offer. Interested companies can enroll here.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

All eyes are on Wall Street in the international business press this morning, with the S&P 500 having dropped 2.1% by yesterday’s close. A 9.5% slide in Nvidia’s stock price prompted a selloff of other big tech names. Nvidia was breaking all of the wrong types of records yesterday, claiming the unenviable title of having the steepest-ever single-day loss of market cap by a US company — wiping off a whopping USD 279 bn during trading.

Traders were prepared for a rocky September, but probably not this rocky. On top of the “traditional” September slump, an upcoming US jobs report on Friday, interest rate cut speculation ahead of the Fed’s mid-month meeting, and 10 September televised debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been weighing on the market.

Analysts are increasingly wondering if this may signal the end to chip mania, which had until recently been the main driver pushing US stock markets to historic records. After all the money that has been pumped into chipmakers over the last year and a half, a period of reflection and readjustment may be a matter of course, thinks Jackson Square Capital’s Andrew Graham, telling Reuters that “all tech revolutions go through periods of disillusionment.”

But high expectations aren’t Nvidia’s only problem, with it being reported on the same day that the US Department of Justice has subpoenaed Nvidia in an antitrust probe.

It wasn’t much calmer in the oil markets, with Brent crude falling 4.9% to settle under USD 74 and wiping out gains the black stuff had made throughout the year. Driving the fall was news that Libya is ready to turn back the tap back on. A dispute between competing political factions over oil revenue and control of the central bank had effectively stopped exports on the formal market.

AND IN OUR CORNER of the world, Riad Salameh faces the music … again. Former Banque du Liban head Riad Salameh was arrested yesterday in Beirut for alleged financial crimes related to USD 110 mn he amassed through the Lebanese central bank’s dealings with brokerage firm Optimum Invest.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

DMCC + Bybit kick off Web3 hackathon: The Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) and global crypto exchange Bybit have launched their second joint hackathon, offering a USD 100k purse for most innovative Web3 businesses, according to a statement. The event takes place on 20 November at DMCC’s Uptown Tower and will focus on AI, gaming, and information security. Want to participate? Pitch your idea here.

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