By Andrei Skvarsky. Pan-African trade finance lender Afreximbank has put bonds worth a total of 81.3bn yen ($523m) on the Japanese debt market in a debut project. The bank’s issue of so-called Samurai bonds -– yen-denominated securities issued by a non-Japanese company – consists of two lots: two-, three-, five-, seven- and 10-year regular bonds… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Deals
Deal planned to boost Japanese investment in Africa
By Andrei Skvarsky. Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a 43-nation development organisation, and the Japan Institute for Overseas Investment (JOI) have agreed key points for an agreement to boost Japanese investment in Africa. The deal would involve providing investors with crucial insights and risk mitigating solutions. It would help speed up energy transition and build economic… Continue Reading
Deal between Africa’s Ecobank, Singapore’s TransferTo to ease intl payments, promote inclusion
By Andrei Skvarsky. Pan-African lender Ecobank and Singapore-based payments infrastructure company TransferTo have agreed the groundwork for a deal to facilitate cross-border financial transactions across Africa, promote financial inclusion in the continent and connect African economies to the rest of the world. Among other things, the agreement would offer underbanked individuals wider opportunities for loans.… Continue Reading
Abidjan’s Janngo Capital creates $78m fund with money from IFC, EIB, others
By Andrei Skvarsky. Ivorian technology-focused venture capital firm Janngo Capital has announced the closure of its second fund at $78m, a sum 20 per cent higher that the target, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other key international bodies being among the investors. Investments also came from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the African… Continue Reading
Islamic Development Bank unit to help Azerbaijan enhance Islamic insurance
By Andrei Skvarsky. ICIEC, the investment insurance unit of the Saudi-based multinational Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), has pledged itself to helping enhance Islamic insurance in Azerbaijan under a September 30 memorandum of understanding. ICIEC’s MoU with the central bank of the predominantly Muslim ex-Soviet republic would underlie a deal to involve activities such as trainings,… Continue Reading
Macquarie buys hyperscale data centre in S. Korea
By Andrei Skvarsky. Macquarie Asset Management, part of Australian financial services company Macquarie Group, has agreed to buy a hyperscale data centre with a capacity of 40 megawatts in South Korea. The agreed sale price is 734bn won ($530m) but presumed inputs into transaction procedures and mechanical, electrical and plumbing works that Hanam Data Centre… Continue Reading
Rakuten Mobile to boost capital by up to $2bn via leaseback deal with Macquarie-led group
By Andrei Skvarsky. Japanese mobile carrier Rakuten Mobile plans to use some of its network assets to raise capital worth 150bn to 300bn yen (between $1bn and $2bn) through a sale-leaseback deal with an investor consortium led by the asset management arm of Australian financial services company Macquarie Group. Rakuten Mobile, a subsidiary of Japanese… Continue Reading
Saudi, Chinese financial sectors preparing $50bn project
By Andrei Skvarsky. Saudi Arabia’s PIF sovereign wealth fund has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with five major Chinese banks and China’s export and credit insurance agency in laying the basis for a project of up to $50bn to involve debt and equity transactions. The project would consist of deals addressing “areas such as two-way… Continue Reading
Australia’s ANZ selling remaining stake in Malaysia’s AmBank
By Andrei Skvarsky. ANZ, one of Australia’s largest banks, has agreed to sell its remaining 5.2 per cent stake in AmBank, one of the biggest lenders in Malaysia. ANZ would be paid 4.10 Malaysian ringgit ($0.87) per share in the deal, the Australian bank said in a statement. The upcoming sale, to be completed on… Continue Reading
Janus Henderson buying out Europe-focused ETF provider Tabula
By Andrei Skvarsky. Global asset manager Janus Henderson will acquire Europe-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider Tabula Investment Management, the two companies have announced. Tabula’s arm Tabula Capital is not part of the buyout and will remain a separate entity, Tabula and Janus Henderson said in a joint statement. Janus Henderson expects that, owing to the… Continue Reading
Permira fund to acquire majority stake in anti-fraud firm BioCatch
By Andrei Skvarsky. One of the funds of global private equity firm Permira has pledged to acquire a majority stake in BioCatch, an Israeli digital fraud and money laundering detection company credited with having saved banks and bank customers from losses exceeding $3.5bn. The size of the stake has not been disclosed. The bulk of… Continue Reading
Dubai police make two arrests in $49,000 burglary probe – Khaleej Times
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two suspected burglars accused of stealing valuables to a total of 180,000 Emirati dirhams ($49,000) from the house of an expat couple in a Dubai community were arrested hard on the heels of the crime, according to a Dubai-based newspaper. The couple were away on holiday when their villa in a non-gated… Continue Reading
Gate.io-Aquanow deal to facilitate ‘access to crypto markets’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Gate.io, one of world’s top-ranking cryptocurrency exchanges, has entered into a partnership with digital assets infrastructure provider Aquanow with the aim of building up liquidity in global crypto markets in anticipation of new blockchain projects. The deal “will help increase access to crypto markets”, a statement from Aquanow quoted the company’s chief… Continue Reading
UAE plans investing in India’s renewable energy, food, healthcare sectors
By Andrei Skvarsky. India’s renewable energy, food processing and healthcare sectors are going to receive substantial investments from the United Arab Emirates, according to memorandums of understanding signed a week ago. The renewable energy investments would fund projects with a combined generation capacity of 60 gigawatts, Emirates News Agency (WAM) cited one of the memorandums,… Continue Reading
Gresham House fund raises £450m for environmental, social projects in UK
A fund run by alternative asset manager Gresham House has raised a little less than £450m ($574m) for financing environmental and social projects in Britain. The Guernsey-domiciled British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (BSIF) II obtained the money from eight local government pension schemes and four family offices, the London-based asset manager said in a statement. Portfolio… Continue Reading
Prop trader The Trading Pit offers 30 pct Black Friday discount
Proprietary trading firm The Trading Pit is granting a discount of 30 per cent on all of what it calls “challenges” for the period from November 24 to December 3 as a Black Friday offer. The discount applies to all challenges. It is not limited to any one of the challenges in The Trading Pit’s… Continue Reading
QATAR NEWS
Franklin Templeton to manage multi-asset fund launched by Qatar’s Commercial Bank By Andrei Skvarsky. Global asset management firm Franklin Templeton Investments will manage a global sharia-compliant multi-asset retail fund that has been launched by Commercial Bank of Qatar, CBQ said in a statement. According to the statement, the Shariah Global Multi-Asset Fund project is part… Continue Reading
Bahrain FinTech Bay’s buyout by Benefit to merge two key fintech hubs
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two major fintech hubs in Bahrain are going to merge after the buyout of Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB), the company managing one of them, by Benefit, the firm running the other, under an agreement announced by the two companies in late September. BFB has incubated more than 116 startups since its inception,… Continue Reading
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to provide numerous services for SMEs in Dubai free-trade zone
By Andrei Skvarsky. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and the authority of one of Dubai’s free-trade zones (FTZs) are planning an agreement that would make a wide range of ADIB services available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) doing business in the zone. The services would include digital solutions tailored to SME needs, ADIB said… Continue Reading
Applying online to speed up account opening at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
By Andrei Skvarsky. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and an Abu Dhabi government agency are planning a deal to simplify and speed up setting up an account with ADIB for investors and companies by digitising the account application procedure. It would take between three and five business days to open an account with ADIB via… Continue Reading
UAE steps up involvement in international project to digitise cross-border payments
By Andrei Skvarsky. The central bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) last week took a major formal step in implementing a plan to create a digital version of the dirham and thereby step up the UAE’s role in an international project to digitise international payments. At a ceremony in Abu Dhabi, the CBUAE signed… Continue Reading
Prop trader The Trading Pit makes deal with futures broker Edge Clear
Liechtenstein-headquartered proprietary trader The Trading Pit has announced it has formed a partnership with Chicago-based futures broker Edge Clear. A proprietary (or prop) trader is a bank or financial services company that earns its income by investing its own capital rather than through commission on investing client money. Continue Reading
Central banks of UAE, India to join forces to boost digitalisation
By Andrei Skvarsky. The central banks of the United Arab Emirates and India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost the digitalisation of financial products and services. At the centre of the MoU is a plan to test the cross-border use by the two countries of their developing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).… Continue Reading
Mubadala buying into Truist Insurance Holdings, world’s 7th-largest insurance broker
By Andrei Skvarsky. Mubadala, an Emirati state-owned investment company, has struck a deal with U.S. private equity firm Stone Point Capital and other investors to jointly buy a $1.95bn 20 per cent stake in Truist Insurance Holdings, the world’s seventh-largest insurance broker. Truist Insurance Holdings is valued at $14.75bn by its parent company, investment bank… Continue Reading
EDB bank, Abu Dhabi financial centre admin to help companies get established
By Andrei Skvarsky. The United Arab Emirates’ state-owned Emirates Development Bank (EDB) and the authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial centre in UAE capital Abu Dhabi, have announced a joint plan to provide better facilities for companies seeking ADGM licensing. EDB and the ADGM authority would provide services such as the… Continue Reading
Dubai’s buy-now-pay-later lender Tabby worth $660m after 3rd-round funding
By Andrei Skvarsky. Tabby, a Dubai-based fintech providing a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, – making easy-term point-of-sale instalment loans, – has raised $58m in its latest round of funding, which boosted its valuation to $660m. Tabby’s 2022 revenue was five times the sum it made in 2021, the company said in a statement.… Continue Reading
ActivTrades analyst: Jan 2 European share rise may be short-lived
According to an analyst at the ActivTrades global brokerage, it is too early to see a remarkable rise in European shares during this year’s first trading session on January 2 as a stable long-term situation. A “lack of any major macro news” suggests the share price surge with the FTSE 100, EURO DAX 50 and… Continue Reading
Tempo remittance firm to get verification services from Sumsub
By Andrei Skvarsky. Tempo France, a Paris-headquartered digital money transfer company, has become a client of London-based compliance-as-a-service and verification firm Sumsub. Tempo, which is licensed by French financial services regulator ACPR, has gained access to the full range of Sumsub’s know-your-customer and anti-money laundering (KYC/AML) services, according to a statement from the London firm,… Continue Reading
Prop trader The Trading Pit raises 10m euros in funding round
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Trading Pit (TTP), a Liechtenstein-based proprietary trading fintech startup, has raised 10m euros ($10.4m) in its latest round of growth funding. TTP now has the goal of achieving global access to all key asset classes, including foreign exchange, stocks, futures and cryptocurrencies, within the next six months, the firm said in… Continue Reading