25th April, 2024
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has forged a joint venture deal with the Kingdom’s telecoms company STC which sees it acquire a 51% stake in Telecommunication Towers Company Limited (TAWAL), which is set to form the basis of the Middle East’s biggest telecommunications infrastructure company – and a global player.
Subscriber Post
19th April, 2024
On Thursday this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its latest fiscal oil price breakeven in the statistical appendix of its Middle East overview. These are important figures, as they reflect the fiscal situation of the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), when compared to current oil prices.
Subscriber Post
28th March, 2024
The UK’s biggest water utility, Thames Water, which is two-thirds owned by state-owned investors, looks set to be renationalized – at least temporarily – after its shareholders refused to throw it a financial lifeline.
Subscriber Post
7th March, 2024
Sub-Saharan Africa is the final frontier for state-owned investors (SOIs), offering potential large rewards – but also significant challenges. For patient investors capable of honing in on good deals, the region offers significant long-term returns that could generate big yields, as well as demonstrating their commitment to sustainable development goals.
Subscriber Post
5th March, 2024
Gulf states have tended to use soft power to gain geopolitical influence via economic and cultural relations, particularly in the MENA and Central Asian regions. The cold war within the GCC has subsided with a deal between Doha and a Saudi-led alliance over Qatar’s alleged closeness to the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet, rivalries are still heated and they are vying for regional influence and at a time of heightened geopolitical sensitivities, with this week seeing Saudi Arabia cement its ties with Bahrain via their sovereign funds while Qatar's QIA is deepening its exposure to Uzbekistan.
Subscriber Post
28th February, 2024
Last year’s venture capital drought has given way to a deluge of investment with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) the latest to open the sluice gates of funds for startups.
Subscriber Post
23rd January, 2024
The Netherlands’ civil service pension fund manager APG has shut down its Beijing office due to a lack of interest among its clients, following the decision four months ago by the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank (NBIM) to end operations in Shanghai.
Subscriber Post
15th December, 2023
On Monday, January 1, 2024, we will be releasing the industry’s most timely, rigorous, and insightful account of the activity and trends of Sovereign Wealth Funds and Public Pension Funds during 2023. The report is titled “State-Owned Investors Powering Through Crises” and includes the following sections:
28th August, 2023
On Monday, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) closed the acquisition of Park Lane Hotel in Midtown Manhattan for US$ 623 million, according to news provider PincusCo and to New York’s Office of the City Register.
Subscriber Post
24th August, 2023
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, venture capital investment in e-commerce and healthtech was a no-brainer – and India’s PharmEasy, valued at US$5.6 billion in 2021, provided an ideal opportunity for sovereign investors to jump on the bandwagon in a massive, fast-growing emerging market.
Subscriber Post
23rd August, 2023
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has agreed to buy a 1% stake in India’s massive Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) chain for US$1 billion – a valuation that has boosted the value of existing sovereign investor stakes by more than 60% since they bought into the firm in late 2020.
Subscriber Post
27th July, 2023
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund could soon be joining its Abu Dhabi (ADIA and Mubadala), Saudi (Public Investment Fund (PIF)), and Singapore (GIC) peers as well as private equity giants KKR and General Atlantic with a potential investment in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), the retail arm of the massive Reliance Industries conglomerate, according to the Financial Times.
Subscriber Post