The Finance World Magazine| Edition: March 2023
The March edition of The Finance World Magazine (TFW) delves into the Zayed Ambition 2 project, which strives to investigate the feasibility of leveraging the UAE's burgeoning space economy for sustainable development. This initiative showcases the country's commitment to diversifying its economy and reducing its reliance on oil. In a featured interview, CEO Shaaista Khan Osman and Managing Director Osman Osman of Blu Blood share their insights about the event management industry in the UAE. This issue also includes insights from Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation, on emerging AI tools, along with some advice for SMEs and startups. Through this edition, we also bring you insights on topics like the UAE's steadfast dedication to sustainable growth and development, Dubai surpassing global and regional tourism recovery levels, the sports industry emerging as a promising sector magnetizing international investors, and many more key informational articles in the finance sector. Keep yourself up to date with all financial sector news with our current news segments. Each person can find something unique from us. We believe our readers deserve real value from what we have to offer.
The March edition of The Finance World Magazine (TFW) delves into the Zayed Ambition 2 project, which strives to investigate the feasibility of leveraging the UAE's burgeoning space economy for sustainable development. This initiative showcases the country's commitment to diversifying its economy and reducing its reliance on oil.
In a featured interview, CEO Shaaista Khan Osman and Managing Director Osman Osman of Blu Blood share their insights about the event management industry in the UAE. This issue also includes insights from Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation, on emerging AI tools, along with some advice for SMEs and startups.
Through this edition, we also bring you insights on topics like the UAE's steadfast dedication to sustainable growth and development, Dubai surpassing global and regional tourism recovery levels, the sports industry emerging as a promising sector magnetizing international investors, and many more key informational articles in the finance sector.
Keep yourself up to date with all financial sector news with our current news segments. Each person can find something unique from us. We believe our readers deserve real value from what we have to offer.
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Mergers & Acquisitions<br />
Middle East M&A Deals Surge Amidst<br />
Global Decline<br />
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in Mergers and Acquisitions<br />
(M&A) operations in the Middle East, probably due to the region’s improving<br />
economic stability and rising investment in infrastructure in addition to the role<br />
of supportive government policies in promoting such deals. Levels of M&A in the<br />
Middle East remains higher than the global average, and this trend is anticipated<br />
to persist.<br />
In 2018, the international mergers<br />
and acquisitions (M&A) scene was<br />
divided into two halves. In the first<br />
half, global dealmaking activity was<br />
relatively high, but in the second half of<br />
the year, activity decreased significantly.<br />
However, the Middle East continued to<br />
be a hotspot for investment, with deals<br />
totalling $1.8T in 2018.<br />
In the first five months of 2022, there<br />
was a lot of merger and acquisition activity<br />
going on around the world. This was a<br />
big success for the industry, as it showed<br />
that businesses were still interested in<br />
making deals. In the middle of the year,<br />
following several interest rate hikes<br />
by central banks in large economies,<br />
combined with heightened macroeconomic<br />
uncertainty, the deal market entered a<br />
cooler phase. This caused many large<br />
deals to slow down, while smaller deals<br />
stopped happening altogether.<br />
Overall, global deal activity slowed in<br />
2022, settling at $3.8T. This was down from<br />
$5.9T the year before, and deal volume<br />
fell by 12%. However, the Middle East<br />
managed to buck the trend, with deal<br />
activity increasing by 10%.<br />
According to Bain & Company’s<br />
estimates, M&A activity in the region<br />
is on the rise, with activity increasing<br />
by about 39% in 2022. This is likely<br />
due in large part to government-owned<br />
sovereign wealth funds investing in<br />
various companies in the region. For<br />
example, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned<br />
Public Investment Fund invested $1.3B<br />
in four Egyptian companies in August<br />
2022, including Abu Qir Fertilizers and<br />
Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling.<br />
Combined, sovereign wealth funds and<br />
corporations represent 84% of all Middle<br />
East deal value. “But sovereign wealth<br />
funds are where most of the action is,”<br />
stated Grégory Garnier, a deals-focused<br />
54 www.thefinanceworld.com <strong>March</strong> <strong>2023</strong>