Archive for the ‘JVs’ Category

Less than two weeks ago, General Electric and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), effectively reinvigorating their 70-year relationship. It should come as no surprise that GE’s areas of core competence and drivers of future growth — energy, healthcare, transportation, and water — are the same areas targeted as key growth sectors for Saudi Arabia. TradeFlow21 views GE and Saudi Arabia as economic juggernauts: longstanding excellence in industrial know-how and manufacturing in the case of the former, and an agglomeration of capital and capital-intensive investment projects for economic sustainability for the latter. While news of such an MoU bodes very well both for GE and Saudi Arabia, and the global economy at large, unfortunately it was easily overshadowed by ongoing fears of the Greek debt crisis and most recently, the specter of panic selling on Wall Street last Thursday. Nevertheless, the founders of TradeFlow21 remain convinced that the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia in particular, represents both an opportunity and a model for real economic investment.

Zuffla LLC’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is potentially a billion dollar-plus company, based on reported prior buyout offers of similar amounts. Abu Dhabi’s 10% stake thus, while undisclosed, could be upwards of $100 million. UFC is the largest grossing PPV franchise in history, having beaten its own record in 2009 at $349 million. With seemingly plenty of growth still possible in the U.S., the UFC and Abu Dhabi have their eyes set on international growth — and of course on some MMA action in Abu Dhabi. See the clip (and link) from Yahoo! Sports below for more details.

clipped from sports.yahoo.com Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, announced on Tuesday the completion of a deal in which a 10-percent interest in the company to the Abu Dhabi government-owned Flash Entertainment. Flash Entertainment was formed two years ago by the Abu Dhabi government’s Executive Affairs Authority, which brings big-name entertainment and sporting events to the United Arab Emirates and the city, including big-name concerts, Formula 1 racing, and in recent weeks, a Rihanna New Year’s Eve concert and the Capitala World Tennis Championship. Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is affiliated with Flash Entertainment, is an MMA fanatic who promoted early world submission grappling championship events through the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. He was attending college in the U.S. and saw the first UFC event live in 1993.

A $25B joint venture was announced earlier today between Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. and Deutsche Bahn AG, to build a railway system in the very liquid Gulf state of Qatar — the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas and the issuer of $7B of 4x oversubscribed bonds last week. Qatari Diar is a real estate company owned by the state’s sovereign wealth fund. It owns 51% of Qatar Railways Development Co., while Deutsche Bahn owns the remaining stake. The three phase project has an expected completion date of 2026, but Reuters reports that a major section will be done by 2022, when Qatar hopes to host the FIFA World Cup. The project includes passenger and freight trains, as well as connections to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

As Gulf states continue to spend tens (make that hundreds) of billions of dollars on infrastructure and other domestic projects, TradeFlow21 believes that it is a terrible mistake, for whatever reason, for American businesses and politicians to miss opportunities to do business and deepen ties with the Gulf. Qatar’s GDP is expected to grow over 9% this year and upwards of 35% next year, both clips by far the fastest among the GCC.

Aeropostale, the $1.8B (market cap; $1.6B annual sales) NY-headquartered teen retailer announced yesterday that it opened its first store in Dubai. In an earnings conference call last August when Aeropostale announced its plans to pursue Dubai, CEO Julian Geiger stated the company chose Dubai over many other options given its “growth and development,” calling it the “perfect platform” to launch the brand while learning and positioning for growth among the Asia region’s half a billion teenagers. In yesterday’s announcement, Mr. Geiger pretty much reiterated these points as Aeropostale plans to unveil more than 20 additional stores in the Middle East. While it is far from being the best of times, there are still opportunities, and the Middle East is clearly among the most promising. Hats off to Aeropostale. Also getting its foot in the door, Payless ShoeSource just announced store openings in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Payless ShoeSource, the American retail footwear company, has opened stores in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, reports Forbes. In a deal with M.H. Alshaya Co., which will support Payless’s expansion into the Middle East with construction and staffing, the company has achieved a “significant milestone” in its international strategy, said CEO Matthew Rubel. The new stores add to Payless ShoeSource’s existing 4,500 establishments in the Americas. 

Liquid Abu Dhabi investors to chip-maker AMD’s rescue. The cost: $700M and $1.2B in assumed debt for Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC) to acquire a sizable chunk in the JV (Foundry Co). ATIC is also said to have a deep pocketbook of between $3.6B-$6B for capacity expansion. Meanwhile, Mubadala boosts its equity stake in AMD to 19.3% from 8.1%. See clips of coverage by MarketWatch below.

clipped from www.marketwatch.com NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Tuesday it plans to spin off its manufacturing operations in the form of a multibillion-dollar joint venture with an Abu Dhabi investment firm. AMD(AMD) said it will own 44.4% of Foundry Co., as the venture will be called. The remaining 55.6% would be own by Advanced Technology Investment Co., an investment company formed by the government of Abu Dhabi. Under the deal, ATIC will pay $700 million to AMD for its ownership stake in Foundry Co., with the joint venture also assuming $1.2 billion of AMD’s debt. At the same time, Mubadala Development Co. will pay $314 million to AMD for 58 million newly issued shares and warrants to buy an additional 30 million

General Electric shares may have short circuited after the company’s surprising earnings miss earlier this year. HOWEVER, Mr. Immelt clearly has his eyes set on high growth and Abu Dhabi’s investment arm is showing unequivocal support of its partner in declaring its intention to become a top-10 shareholder. Read the rest of this entry »