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☆ Pakistan to sell contract to run Islamabad airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KARACHI, Pakistan, July 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan is to proceed with the sale via tender of a contract to manage Islamabad airport after consultations with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. In March Pakistan had kicked off the outsourcing of operations at three major airports and the ministry said Islamabad airport was the first of these to be affected, as the country seeks to generate foreign exchange reserves for its ailing economy. In a statement the ministry said it had been unanimously agreed for the outsourcing of operations at Islamabad airport to go ahead in order to improve service delivery in line with best industry practices. Officials say Pakistan has been in talks with Qatar to jointly run the terminals at Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airports. The Qatar Investment Authority pledged to invest $3 billion in Pakistan after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Doha late last year.

Persons: Shehbaz Sharif, Ariba Shahid, David Holmes Organizations: International Finance Corporation, IFC, Ministry of Finance, Pakistan, Qatar Investment Authority, Thomson Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Islamabad, Qatar, Karachi, Lahore, Doha

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Canary Wharf may be in trouble once again. While CWG’s average tenancy agreement still has 10 years left, the risk is that itself and the wider Canary Wharf area slip into a vicious circle. Rental incomes on apartments are roughly on a par with offices, per square foot, according to a person familiar with the matter. The 45-storey skyscraper in Canary Wharf has been HSBC's home for more than 20 years. Canary Wharf Group, which runs the east London financial district, declined to comment.

Persons: Paul Reichmann’s Olympia, Morgan Stanley, CWG, Knight Frank, Hong Kong’s Cheung, Bear Stearns, that’s, Liam Proud, Pranav Kiran Organizations: Reuters, Docklands, HSBC, York, Saudi Arabian, Canary Wharf Group, Barclays, Estates, Brookfield Property Partners, Qatar Investment Authority, Brookfield, Canary, QIA, Moody’s, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Hong Kong’s Cheung Kei Group, Churchill, NYK, Transport, BT, Thomson Locations: London, Canary, Canadian, Saudi, U.S, Brookfield, That’s, Docklands, Stratford, Wharf, QIA, Canary Wharf, Europe's

☆ Qatari fund buys passive stake in Wizards parent, Sportico reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Apr 7, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards center Jay Huff (34) dunks the ball against the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports/File PhotoJune 22 (Reuters) - The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is buying a passive minority stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent of the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals, Sportico reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Monumental declined to comment, while QIA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The report comes weeks after another deal in the sporting world that involved a Middle Eastern country. Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jay Huff, Geoff Burke, Sportico, QIA, LIV, Granth, Maju Samuel Organizations: District of Columbia, Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, Capital, USA, Qatar Investment Authority, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Washington Capitals, Basketball Association's Washington Mystics, NBC Sports Washington, PGA, Thomson Locations: Washington, District, USA, Saudi, Bengaluru

Russell Westbrook, who played for the Washington Wizards in the 2020-21 NBA season, reacts prior to playing against the Denver Nuggets at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., February 17, 2021. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has offered to buy a minority stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Washington Wizards and other Washington, D.C., sports teams, the National Basketball Association said Thursday. The NBA is still reviewing the deal with the Qatar Investment Authority, league spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement to CNBC. The NBA in November began to allow sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors to buy noncontrolling stakes in the league's teams. In addition to the Wizards, Monumental owns the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals and the Women's National Basketball Association team, the Washington Mystics.

Persons: Russell Westbrook, Mike Bass, QIA, Bass Organizations: Washington Wizards, NBA, Denver Nuggets, Capital, Washington , D.C, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, D.C, National Basketball Association, Qatar Investment Authority, CNBC, Sportico, Wizards, Monumental, Hockey League's Washington Capitals, Women's National Basketball Association, Washington Mystics, NBA G League, NBC Sports Washington, Monumental Sports Locations: Washington ,, Washington, Monumental, Qatar

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is in talks with The Sovereign Wealth Fund of Egypt (TSFE) about the deal, said two sources with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named. The fund is considering acquiring a stake of up to 30% in the hotels, the sources said, without naming them. Relations between Egypt and Qatar soured in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia has led efforts to rebuild ties with Qatar and, along with Egypt, re-established diplomatic relations in 2021. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Baghdad in August 2021 for the first time since ending the dispute.

Persons: Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, St Regis Saadiyat, Egypt's TSFE, Agatha Christie's, Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Hadeel El, Andrew Mills, Patrick Werr, Louise Heavens, Mark Potter, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Abu, Abu Dhabi Executive Council, St Regis, United, United Arab Emirates, Read, Qatar Investment Authority, Sovereign Wealth Fund of Egypt, Regional, Qatar, Thomson Locations: Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Qatar, United Arab, DUBAI, Harrods, London, Aswan, Saudi Arabia, Thani, Baghdad, Ukraine, Hadeel El Sayegh, Dubai, Doha, Cairo

☆ Middle Eastern investors are pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment — here are the 9 most active players and their key leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

Persons: Jamal Khashoggi's, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, —, WME, Jimmy Finkelstein's, Abu Dhabi's, It's, Yasir Al, Rumayyan, Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Sam Barnett, Peter Smith —, Christina Wayne, SRMG, Mohammed bin Salman, Alrashid, Johnny Depp, Jeanne du Barry, Sharon Stone, Bruno Mars, Luca Guadanigno, Vince McMahon's, Turki Al, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Dayel, Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al, Mahmoud, Peter Chernin, Nasser Al, Germain, BeIN, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad, Khalifa Al, Vincent, Asghar Farhadi's Oscar, Nart Bouran, JAF, Jeff Zucker, Graydon Carter's, it's, Semafor, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mansour, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber Organizations: United, Sovereign, Saudi, Washington Post, Saudi Crown, Endeavor, UFC, IMI, Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, Public Investment Fund, Saudi Aramco, Newcastle United, English football, PGA, MBC, Shahid, Netflix, Vice Media, Variety, MBC Group's, Antenna Group, Cineflex Studios, NBCUniversal International, Amazon, AMC, Saudi Research, Media, Publicly, Red Sea, Cannes, Penske Media Corporation, Bloomberg Media, Vince McMahon's WWE, country's General Entertainment Authority, Development, Cultural Development Fund, George Washington University, American University . Qatar Qatar Investment, Qatar Investment Authority, Providence, BeIN Media, Paris Saint, Miramax, Paramount, Doha Film, Doha Film Institute, H.E, Hollywood Reporter, United Arab Emirates Abu, Investment Authority, UAE, Abu, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Hollywood, Dubai Studio, Dubai Media City, National Geographic, BBC News, International Media Investments International Media Investments, National, CNN, Sky News Arabia, Reuters, JAF Communications, Grid, RedBird Capital Partners, Punchbowl News, New York Times, Manchester City, The, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Locations: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Saudi, East, North Africa, Al Arabiya, Netherlands, Greece, Dubai, Jeddah, SRMG, Riyadh, Doha, Europe, Americas, ViacomCBS, Qatari, Thani, Abu Dhabi

Shareholders of Credit Suisse and UBS were not granted a vote on the deal that was sealed over one weekend in March. Officials for QIA, UBS, the Swiss finance ministry and Credit Suisse declined to comment. QIA's investment in Credit Suisse dates back to the global financial crisis of 2008. The sovereign wealth fund had increased its stake in Credit Suisse to just under 7%, only trailing largest shareholder Saudi National Bank's roughly 10% stake, according to a January filing. Among them, Middle Eastern backers which own more than 20% of Credit Suisse face the largest hit.

☆ Fanatics moves one step closer to IPO, hiring Meta's head of investor relations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

While an IPO is not on the immediate horizon, the company is taking a step in the direction of preparing for one, hiring Meta's investor relations head to further build out its engagement with current and future shareholders. Deborah Crawford, who has served as Meta 's vice president of investor relations for more than eight years, is being appointed as Fanatics' head of investor relations, a new position at the company. Prior to Meta, Crawford was head of investor relations for Netflix, where she helped initiate the streaming company's first formal investor relations function, according to Fanatics. Schiffman declined to comment on the potential timing of a Fanatics IPO but confirmed the company has a goal of going public. Fanatics has seen its valuation and investor roster drastically expand in recent years, which has also helped to fuel IPO chatter.

☆ James Murdoch's Bodhi Tree slashes planned investment in Reliance JV Viacom18
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, April 14 (Reuters) - Bodhi Tree, a joint venture between James Murdoch and a former Star India executive, has reduced its planned investment in Reliance's (RELI.NS) broadcast venture Viacom18 by 70% and will now pump in 43.06 billion rupees ($527.84 million), Viacom18 said late on Thursday. Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries had said in April last year that Qatar Investment Authority-backed Bodhi Tree would spend 135 billion rupees out of a planned 151.45 billion rupees investment in the media behemoth that is also backed by Paramount Global (PARA.O). Reliance is now leading the investment with a 108.39 billion rupees infusion. A source familiar with the matter said the investment amount was reduced due to a broader funding squeeze amid a slowdown in dealmaking. Reliance, which is expanding in every sector from retail to ecommerce, made its big splash in the Indian streaming space last year, with its acquisition of digital streaming rights for the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament from 2023 to 2027.

☆ Saudi money is flowing to US media and entertainment, from Live Nation to LIV Golf, 5 years after Jamal Khashoggi's murder: 'The ice has thawed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Insider identified some key people connecting Middle East investors with American companies. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Vince McMahon's WWE has a long-term partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a major live WWE event there slated for May. Vince McMahon's WWE was one of the first US companies to create unique events in Saudi Arabia.

☆ 9 Middle Eastern funds and investors pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Governments and investors in the Middle East are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

☆ The Biden administration considered probing Elon Musk's Twitter purchase over national security concerns, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration reportedly considered an official review of Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. The White House had national security concerns over its foreign investors, per Bloomberg. Changpeng Zhao, the Binance CEO; Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal; and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund are all investors in Musk's Twitter. Some in the Biden administration considered whether Musk's deal should be brought in front of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which can block business transactions over security concerns, Bloomberg reported. In response to Insider's request for comment on the government's concerns, Twitter responded with a poop emoji – an auto-reply Musk announced Sunday.

☆ Explainer: Credit Suisse: How did it get to crisis point?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Credit Suisse confirmed last month that clients had pulled 110 billion Swiss francs of funds in the fourth quarter while the bank suffered its biggest annual loss of 7.29 billion Swiss francs since the financial crisis. In December, Credit Suisse had tapped investors for 4 billion Swiss francs. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsWHAT STEPS CAN CREDIT SUISSE TAKE TO CALM INVESTORS? HOW IMPORTANT IS CREDIT SUISSE? Credit Suisse has a local Swiss bank, wealth management, investment banking and asset management operations.

☆ What happened at Credit Suisse and how did it reach crisis point?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In December, Credit Suisse had tapped investors for 4 billion Swiss francs. Credit Suisse shares have lost more than 75% of their value over the past twelve months. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsWHAT STEPS CAN CREDIT SUISSE TAKE TO CALM INVESTORS? HOW IMPORTANT IS CREDIT SUISSE? Credit Suisse has a local Swiss bank, wealth management, investment banking and asset management operations.

☆ Saudi money is pouring into Hollywood and media, 5 years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Here's who's cashing in and how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Even those media players that are comfortable with invetment from the Middle East may not find funds flowing, one Hollywood veteran said. A major live WWE event in Saudi Arabia is slated for May. Of the growing ties between US entertainment and media and Middle East investors, this person added, "Presumably media organizations got into this to help society make better decisions."

☆ Middle East pivot to Asia is strategic this time
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Xi Jinping has brokered a deal the United States would have found hard to secure, despite its traditional military influence in the Middle East. The Middle East has trained its financial sights on Asia before. At current rates of growth, emerging Asia will become the top trade partner for the Gulf countries by 2028, per Asia House, surpassing advanced economies. As U.S.-China relations continue to sour, the Asian financial centre is looking to the Middle East to find new foreign companies to trade in the territory. Delegations from the two Middle East countries held talks in Beijing between March 6 and 10, the statement added.

☆ UK regulator tells Heathrow to cut fees in win for airlines
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Sarah Young | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A worker sanitises a barrier at the International arrivals area of Terminal 5 in London's Heathrow Airport, Britain, August 2, 2021. The lower fees will boost airlines such as IAG's (ICAG.L) British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, two of Heathrow's biggest, making the airport cheaper for them. They have long complained that fees at Heathrow, the busiest airport in western Europe, are the highest in the world. The strong bounceback in travel since the lows of the pandemic prompted the CAA to reduce the fees Heathrow can charge in the coming years. Improved forecasts for passenger numbers this year and next year mean Heathrow will be able to generate higher revenue, said the CAA, which uses passenger numbers to calculate the charges.

☆ Qatari investors preparing imminent bid for Manchester United - Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Qatari investors are preparing to make a bid to buy Premier League club Manchester United "in the coming days", Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the deal. The report added that the consortium will submit an initial bid for the club by the end of the week, and that officials from the Qatar Investment Authority are helping with preparations for the bid. Reuters has contacted Manchester United for comment. read more read moreEarlier this month, the Daily Mail newspaper reported that Qatari investors are planning to make a huge bid to buy Premier League club Manchester United. (This story has been corrected to say Qatar Investment Authority, not Qatar Sports Investments, in paragraph 2)Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Jan Harvey and Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter suffered an outage during Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show — its 2nd in a week — despite Elon Musk's directive to maximize stability
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime performance coincided with nearly 1,000 reports of a Twitter outage. It came just four days after "a massive outage" saw users left unable to tweet. Nearly 1,000 users reported on Downdetector that they were having problems with Twitter, peaking as the Super Bowl halftime show started around 8:30 p.m. The apparent outage came just four days after Wednesday's "massive" one left users unable to tweet. The platform did not suffer any outages then, despite a larger viewership and Musk's similar emphasis on keeping Twitter running.

☆ Credit Suisse posts massive annual loss as 'radical' restructure gets underway
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland March 24, 2021.Credit Suisse on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 1.4 billion Swiss francs ($1.51 billion), as it continues with its huge strategic overhaul. The quarterly result was worse than analyst projections of a net loss attributable to shareholders of 1.32 billion Swiss francs, and took the embattled Swiss lender's full-year loss to 7.3 billion Swiss francs. In November, the bank projected a 1.5 billion Swiss franc loss for the fourth quarter amid large-scale restructuring costs, while Credit Suisse shareholders greenlit a $4.2 billion capital raise aimed at financing the overhaul. The capital raise included the sale of 9.9% of Credit Suisse shares to the Saudi National Bank, making it the bank's largest shareholder. The Qatar Investment Authority became the second-largest shareholder in Credit Suisse after doubling its stake late last year.

☆ Costcutter owner Bestway buys Sainsbury's stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sainsbury's shares were up 4.5% on Friday, hitting their highest since April and leading gainers on the FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index. The 3.45% stake makes Bestway Sainsbury's sixth largest investor, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Asda was purchased by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity company TDR Capital for an enterprise value of 6.8 billion pounds, while Morrisons was bought by U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for 7 billion pounds. Sainsbury's proposed 7.3 billion pounds takeover of Asda was blocked by Britain's competition regulator in 2019. Shares in Sainsbury's closed on Thursday at 239.4 pence, valuing the business at 5.6 billion pounds.

☆ Cyber Startup Snyk Raises $25 Million From ServiceNow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Cybersecurity company Snyk Ltd. announced on Tuesday a $25 million investment from enterprise software maker ServiceNow Inc. The Boston-based startup also announced an integration with ServiceNow that aims to provide cybersecurity and information-technology executives a view of potential security vulnerabilities originating from open-source code. “Security is a team issue that requires developers, security and IT professionals to work together,” Mr. Bedi said. “Vendors are starting to talk with each other more often and being able to exchange data,” Mr. Horvath said. The eight-year-old startup cut 14% of its workforce last year and now has over 1,000 employees, according to Mr. McKay.

☆ Qatar doubles Credit Suisse stake as embattled lender forges ahead with strategic overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Qatar Investment Authority is the second-largest shareholder in Credit Suisse after doubling its stake in the embattled Swiss lender late last year, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The QIA — Qatar's sovereign wealth fund — initially began investing in Credit Suisse around the time of the financial crisis. Combined with the 3.15% owned by Saudi-based family firm Olayan Financing Company, around a fifth of the company's stock is now owned by Middle Eastern investors, Eikon data indicates. Credit Suisse will report its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Feb. 9, and has already projected a 1.5 billion Swiss franc ($1.6 billion) loss for the fourth quarter as a result of the ongoing restructuring. The shake-up is designed to address persistent underperformance in the investment bank and a series of risk and compliance failures.

The new shares bring the QIA's ownership in Credit Suisse to 6.87%, amounting to 272.25 million shares, from 5.57% as reported in its last SEC filing in November. Credit Suisse declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Monday and the QIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Credit Suisse's shares rose 2.2% on Monday to close at 3.15 Swiss francs. SNB, along with the QIA and Olayan Group, account for about 20% of Credit Suisse shares. Credit Suisse outlined plans in October to raise 4 billion Swiss francs from investors, cut thousands of jobs and shift its focus from investment banking towards its rich clients.

☆ Elon Musk says he dislikes how 'most alcohol' tastes and makes him feel, but is partial to 'red wine in a fine glass' or a Scotch on the rocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday night that he doesn't like 'most alcohol,' but is partial to a red wine. "But there is something quite beautiful about red wine in a fine glass." Soon after the game, Musk tweeted a poll about stepping down as the head of Twitter. In 2017, Musk tweeted: "A little red wine, vintage record, some Ambien... and magic!" And a couple months later, he described drinking wine from a mason jar at a friend's party.

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