Actis, an investment firm specializing in growth markets, recently made a significant investment in Medis Group, a branded generic pharmaceuticals business based in North Africa. Medis was the first pharmaceutical company to launch sterile products in North Africa, and is…
The Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs is responsible for the administration of all of the Kingdom’s municipalities – ranging from massive urban centres to smaller, more rural areas. A key focus of the Ministry is to ensure that…
The UAE’s financial sector is set for major changes ahead of what Bloomberg has called the biggest M&A deal in the Middle East. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB) have agreed to merge, creating…
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) recently invested 2.45 billion USD into acquiring an office building in Singapore. QIA bought the 43-storey building, Asian Square Tower 1, from US based private equity firm BlackRock. It is the largest single-tower real estate…
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows peaked in 2015 to 1.76 trillion USD – the highest investment levels seen since the financial crisis of 2008-2009. The UN expects this figure to decline by between 10 and 15 percent this year. When…
Ever since the historic Brexit vote, property firm Select Property has reportedly seen a 200 percent increase in enquiries about UK real estate from investors based in the GCC (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman).…
In H1 2016, foreign investors spent a total of 5.1 billion USD on apartment properties in the US. Investment into US apartments by foreign buyers has averaged 5.4 billion USD over the past ten years, and so the activity seen…
Venture capitalists based in the US are increasingly passing up the chance to invest in young startups, and choosing to invest into mature companies, preferably with proven business models. According to a report by research firm PitchBook Data, Q1 2016…
African tech startups received a total of over 185 million USD over the course of 2015. A significant proportion of this investment was dedicated to “social enterprises”, i.e. profit-making companies with social impact as their main goal. Some African entrepreneurs…
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which has been the primary investment vehicle of the UAE government for the past 40 years, has seen a drop in its long-term gains. The fund’s assets are expected to drop to 475 billion USD…
The investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Mumtalakat Holding Company, has announced the recent successful acquisition of an equity stake in KOS Group, a European healthcare group that provides long-term care and rehabilitation services, as well as hospital equipment…
The US healthcare sector is making rapid strides in recovering from the level of risk present in the sector in 2015. According to Michael Palumbo, founder of Third Millenium trading, the US healthcare sector “is now at a level where…
Following the surprising results of the UK’s referendum on EU membership, the value of the British pound plummeted to a 31-year-low against the US dollar. The currency has yet to recover completely, with JP Morgan predicting that the August 4th…
Conflicting reports on investor confidence and preference have emerged following Brexit, with some analysts pointing to the “bargains” available in the UK’s real estate sector and the likelihood that foreign investors will flock to take advantage of these opportunities. However,…
Healthcare spending is on the rise throughout the GCC (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain). In the UAE, more and more private players are being encouraged to enter the healthcare sector. Healthcare spending in the…