Company Insights Mumtalakat Banking & Finance Latest Mumtalakat DevelopmentsAI Insights Mumtalakat has announced a focus on local investments, citing regional returns as compelling. This strategy aligns with a broader regional trend encouraging investments closer to home for higher returns5. It also plans to invest in the UK's clean technology sector and business services among others2. The company has agreed to a non-binding agreement with CYVN Holdings from Abu Dhabi to sell a stake in the British carmaker McLaren Group. This move may lead to CYVN Holdings acquiring the automotive business. The partnership aims to provide McLaren with extra capital and expertise, especially in the field of electric vehicles1. Mumtalakat acquired full ownership of McLaren Group after completing the capital reorganisation plan. This process included the conversion of all preference shares into ordinary shares, which reinforced its control over McLaren. This development followed Mumtalakat's previous steps to recapitalise McLaren and structure governance4. In March 2024 Mumtalakat took complete control of McLaren after buying stakes from minority shareholders and converting equity into warrant-like instruments3. Several months earlier, Mumtalakat invested in the Italian Racing Force, expanding its portfolio in the motorsports sector. Mumtalakat Overview Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company BSC – or Mumtalakat – is Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, established by royal decree in 2006 and wholly owned by the Bahraini government. Mumtalakat invests in assets in most sectors including education, aviation, healthcare, consumer and financial services, industrial manufacturing, real estate, tourism and logistics. It does not invest in oil or gas. Initial investments were primarily in Bahrain, with just 3 percent abroad, but since then they risen to over a third, covering the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the US, with both minority and majority stakes. It now holds stakes in more than 60 companies and has assets under management worth roughly $18 billion. Mumtalakat holds stakes in some of Bahrain’s largest companies, including National Bank of Bahrain, Gulf Hotels Group, Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Beyon) and Aluminium Bahrain (Alba). Further afield Mumtalakat owns stakes in companies including the British carmaker McLaren Group, Singapore Gulf Bank, Italian Racing Force, Germany’s FAI Aviation Group and Kuwait’s Gulf Cryo. Mumtalakat News Business of Sport Saudi Arabia explores options to own F1 team Owning a Formula 1 team could be the next step for Saudi Arabia after sponsoring the sport and hosting a grand prix, according to the chairman of the kingdom’s automobile and motorcycle federation. Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal told reporters in a video call ahead of this weekend’s race in Jeddah that the interest […] April 16, 2025 Opinion Economy Gulf sets the bar for proposed US sovereign wealth fund Plenty of questions remain, especially about how the entity will be funded February 11, 2025 Analysis Finance Vast Gulf wealth funds splinter to make targeted investments Sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf are increasingly doing business via wholly-owned or affiliated entities as they become too big to manage specialised investment efforts, industry watchers are saying. MGX, an Emirati artificial intelligence-focused vehicle founded last year by Abu Dhabi’s fund Mubadala and the artificial intelligence company G42, made a splash by being one […] January 27, 2025 Manufacturing Alba and Ma’aden end merger discussions Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) have ended talks over a merger of the two Gulf manufacturing giants. Discussions had been taking place since last year and it had been hoped that a deal could be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to Alba’s chief executive, Ali Al Baqali. […] January 13, 2025 Manufacturing Alba and Ma’aden delay merger to Q2 2025 The deadline on a potential merger between Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and subsidiaries of Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden has been extended into the second quarter of 2025. It had been hoped that a deal between the two manufacturing giants could be completed in the first quarter, according to Alba’s chief executive, Ali Al Baqali. But a note […] December 23, 2024 Analysis Business of Sport Saudi Arabia expands global reach with 900 sports deals Saudi Arabia’s vast number of sports sponsorship deals, now in excess of 900, are part of the kingdom’s strategy to diversify away from oil but their long-term success will not be known for some time to come, experts have said. Play the Game, a publicly funded sports ethics institute in Denmark, compiled a list of […] December 9, 2024 Construction Bahrain to tender for ‘airport city’ in early 2025 Bahrain will issue tenders early next year to build a new “airport city” based around the existing Bahrain International Airport. The project will include commercial and residential development, according to Mohamed Yousif AlBinfalah, CEO of Bahrain Airport Company. “We have a significant amount of space that will be coming to the market soon for development,” […] November 19, 2024 Banking & Finance Bahrain bank merger to complete in 2025 A merger between National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) and Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) is expected to be completed in 2025. Plans to join the two banks were announced to the Bahrain Bourse earlier this year and preliminary proceedings started this month. “Considering that we are almost at the end of this year, I […] November 15, 2024 Business of Sport Audi slams brakes on Qatari F1 buyout rumours Carmaker Audi has said its F1 team is not for sale, scuppering online rumours that the company was preparing to sell to Qatar’s QIA sovereign wealth fund. “We do not engage in speculation. The team is not for sale,” an Audi F1 spokesperson told AGBI on Tuesday. Qatar already holds a major stake in VW, […] November 13, 2024 Retail High demand leads Lulu to upsize IPO stake to 30% Lulu Retail Holdings has increased the size of its initial public offering (IPO) by 5 percent to 30 percent to potentially raise AED6.32 billion ($1.72 billion) on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) following high demand from investors. The retail chain operator in the Middle East initially offered a 25 percent stake sale. The total […] November 5, 2024 Posts navigation 1 2 3 Next
Business of Sport Saudi Arabia explores options to own F1 team Owning a Formula 1 team could be the next step for Saudi Arabia after sponsoring the sport and hosting a grand prix, according to the chairman of the kingdom’s automobile and motorcycle federation. Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal told reporters in a video call ahead of this weekend’s race in Jeddah that the interest […] April 16, 2025
Opinion Economy Gulf sets the bar for proposed US sovereign wealth fund Plenty of questions remain, especially about how the entity will be funded February 11, 2025
Analysis Finance Vast Gulf wealth funds splinter to make targeted investments Sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf are increasingly doing business via wholly-owned or affiliated entities as they become too big to manage specialised investment efforts, industry watchers are saying. MGX, an Emirati artificial intelligence-focused vehicle founded last year by Abu Dhabi’s fund Mubadala and the artificial intelligence company G42, made a splash by being one […] January 27, 2025
Manufacturing Alba and Ma’aden end merger discussions Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) have ended talks over a merger of the two Gulf manufacturing giants. Discussions had been taking place since last year and it had been hoped that a deal could be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to Alba’s chief executive, Ali Al Baqali. […] January 13, 2025
Manufacturing Alba and Ma’aden delay merger to Q2 2025 The deadline on a potential merger between Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and subsidiaries of Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden has been extended into the second quarter of 2025. It had been hoped that a deal between the two manufacturing giants could be completed in the first quarter, according to Alba’s chief executive, Ali Al Baqali. But a note […] December 23, 2024
Analysis Business of Sport Saudi Arabia expands global reach with 900 sports deals Saudi Arabia’s vast number of sports sponsorship deals, now in excess of 900, are part of the kingdom’s strategy to diversify away from oil but their long-term success will not be known for some time to come, experts have said. Play the Game, a publicly funded sports ethics institute in Denmark, compiled a list of […] December 9, 2024
Construction Bahrain to tender for ‘airport city’ in early 2025 Bahrain will issue tenders early next year to build a new “airport city” based around the existing Bahrain International Airport. The project will include commercial and residential development, according to Mohamed Yousif AlBinfalah, CEO of Bahrain Airport Company. “We have a significant amount of space that will be coming to the market soon for development,” […] November 19, 2024
Banking & Finance Bahrain bank merger to complete in 2025 A merger between National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) and Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) is expected to be completed in 2025. Plans to join the two banks were announced to the Bahrain Bourse earlier this year and preliminary proceedings started this month. “Considering that we are almost at the end of this year, I […] November 15, 2024
Business of Sport Audi slams brakes on Qatari F1 buyout rumours Carmaker Audi has said its F1 team is not for sale, scuppering online rumours that the company was preparing to sell to Qatar’s QIA sovereign wealth fund. “We do not engage in speculation. The team is not for sale,” an Audi F1 spokesperson told AGBI on Tuesday. Qatar already holds a major stake in VW, […] November 13, 2024
Retail High demand leads Lulu to upsize IPO stake to 30% Lulu Retail Holdings has increased the size of its initial public offering (IPO) by 5 percent to 30 percent to potentially raise AED6.32 billion ($1.72 billion) on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) following high demand from investors. The retail chain operator in the Middle East initially offered a 25 percent stake sale. The total […] November 5, 2024
