Middle East Report
Middle East Report 2007
M&A drivers in place: With huge sums generated by the oil price rise and more competition in some sectors, Middle Eastern companies are increasingly considering mergers and acquisitions. At the same time, regionally based funds are flexing their financial muscles overseas and targeting major companies.
Sabic crests the wave
In what is the biggest deal so far in the Gulf capital markets this year, Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) bought out American giant GE’s plastics division. By Barry Marshall.
Kingdom dominates Saudi IPOs
The IPO of Prince Alwaleed's investment firm Kingdom Holding Company was the biggest IPO in the Gulf this year. By Barry Marshall.
Promise could be fulfilled
To-date, the Middle East has been a backwater for securitisation with only a handful of deals. But that is set to change with a clutch of transactions in the market and more on the way. Paul Farrow reports.
Securitising the Sharia way
With Dubai’s announcement that it would open up the real estate market to non-citizens in 2002, Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum made history. By Sandeep Chaudhry, CEO, Syed Kashif Hussain and Ramin Takin, ENSEC.
Reviewing Islamic financiers
After more than three decades of modern Islamic finance, the time has come to review the past and examine the future of this fast-growing industry. By Emmanuel Volland, Standard & Poor’s.
Views of an Islamic scholar
Interview with Dr Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi, Islamic scholar, former President of the International Association of Islamic Economics. By Barry Marshall.
Issues in Islamic liquidity
From Jakarta to Jeddah, there are about 300 Islamic banks and other financial institutions now operating in some 40 countries, with the value of Islamic banking internationally estimated at approaching US$500bn. By Warren Edwardes, CEO of Delphi Risk Management.
Drivers of the euro sukuk
The sukuk market and Islamic finance as a whole are experiencing considerable growth. This article looks at the opportunities around the development of a euro sukuk market. By John Weguelin, managing director, European Islamic Investment Bank PLC (EIIB).
Loan market holds firm
The Middle East has been the loan market story of the year. So far only marginally affected by fall-out from the wider loan market liquidity squeeze, both the corporate and the financial institution market still enjoy ample liquidity. By David Cox.
Nakheel – Building ambitions
With US$30bn of projects in the pipeline, Nakheel visited the capital markets in 2006–07 to raise more than US$5bn from a stock-settled sukuk and an Islamic loan. By Helen Bartholomew.
KPPC sets the pace
The US$1.4bn financing for Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company (KPPC) successfully closed on July 5 2007. By Olivier Musset, managing director, energy project finance, Societe Generale; Cem Orekli, vice-president, energy project finance, Société Générale and; Salah Al Kharji, financial co-ordinator, Petrochemical Industries Company KSC.
Suez's Arabian nights
The financing and syndication success of the gigantic Marafiq IWPP project broke new grounds despite its sheer magnitude. By Rajit Nanda, CFO, Raphael Barreau, vice president and Elio Wolff, financial advisor, Suez Energy Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Mes shows strong appetite
Mesaieed B is a significant milestone in the development of the Qatari power industry and is an indication of the strong appetite that international sponsors and funding institutions alike currently have for Middle East power deals. By Barry Marshall.
Continuing to grow
Project Finance International’s third survey of the Middle East projects market shows the dollar volume of projects continues to increase – although the actual number of projects has remained remarkable similar over the three surveys. By Rod Morrison.
Suez's Arabian nights
The financing and syndication success of the gigantic Marafiq IWPP project broke new grounds despite its sheer magnitude. By Rajit Nanda, CFO, Raphael Barreau, vice president and Elio Wolff, financial advisor, Suez Energy Middle East, Asia and Africa.
