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Saudi's ACWA Power gets CMA nod on $1.9bln rights issue

Saudi's ACWA Power gets CMA nod on $1.9bln rights issue

Zawya21-05-2025

Saudi utility firm ACWA Power is set to increase its capital by up to SAR 7.125 billion ($1.9 billion) through a rights issue.
Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA) confirmed on Tuesday that it has approved the company's request to proceed with the offering.
The company, a unit of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), is expected to determine the price and number of shares to be offered after the extraordinary general assembly meeting.
Last year, the company's board of directors recommended the capital increase 'to anchor its growth strategy' of expanding the assets under management to $250 billion by 2030.
The company had anticipated that its average annual equity commitments would reach around $2.5 billion between 2024 and 2030, compared to an earlier range of $1 billion to $1.3 billion.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

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Dubai real estate sector sets record $18.2bn sales in single month with $82m Palm Jumeirah villa leading spree
Dubai real estate sector sets record $18.2bn sales in single month with $82m Palm Jumeirah villa leading spree

Arabian Business

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  • Arabian Business

Dubai real estate sector sets record $18.2bn sales in single month with $82m Palm Jumeirah villa leading spree

The Dubai real estate market set a new all-time monthly sales record of AED66.8bn ($18.2bn) in May, a 49.9 per cent increase in value on the same month last year, according to a market update issued by fäm Properties. The data reveals that last month's total of 18,693 transactions also made it the second best-selling month on record in terms of volume. Fäm Properties CEO Firas Al Msaddi said the data from DXBinteract underlines the strength and stability of a market which is evolving, without any broad threat of oversupply in the residential sector, but now facing an undersupply of office space. Dubai real estate May 2025 In response to a recent Fitch Ratings forecast for a 15 per cent correction in Dubai residential property prices, Al Msaddi said: 'While growth has slowed, that's not the same as a correction. A slowdown in growth is a sign of market maturity, not market weakness. 'Approximately 363,000 residential units are expected to be delivered in Dubai over the next five years. However, over 270,000 of those are still at early construction stages, with only 0–20 per cent progress as of today.' He said that just 12,000 units are close to completion (80–99 per cent progress), dispelling any notion of a market-wide oversupply. Additionally, completed project deliveries in 2024 are down 23 per cent compared to 2023, showing the city is not facing a glut of ready units. Al Msaadi said: 'In specific segments, there may be temporary price adjustments. For example, Jumeirah Village Circle is expected to receive around 20,000 new units over the coming four to five years. 'This concentrated delivery volume may place short-term pressure on pricing in that area, but this is not reflective of the broader market. Even if a correction occurs in pockets of the residential sector, it's temporary. Dubai's demand base is strong, and absorption will catch up.' Meanwhile, Dubai is facing an undersupply of office space. Al Msaadi said: 'Quality commercial space remains extremely limited, with strong demand and minimal new inventory, especially in prime business zones. As a result, no price correction is expected in the office segment, which continues to see firm value appreciation.' Dubai property sales in May have soared in value over the last five years: 2020: AED2.3bn ($626m) from 1,400 transactions 2021: AED11.1bn ($3bn) from 4,400 transactions 2022: AED18.3bn ($5bn) from 6,600 transactions 2023: AED33.6bn ($9.1bn) from 11,600 transactions 2024: AED46.4bn ($12.6bn) from 17,600 transactions 2024: AED66.8bn ($18.2bn) from 18,693 transactions The most expensive individual property sold last month was a luxury villa at Palm Jumeirah which fetched AED300m ($81.7m). The most expensive apartment sold during the month went for AED164m ($44.7m) at Jumeirah Residences Asora Bay. The Dubai real estate market is supported not only by construction dynamics, but by global migration patterns of high-net-worth individuals. As per DXBinteract's investor profiling and international market comparisons, London lost 45 per cent of its millionaires over the past decade, while Dubai gained 212 per cent during the same period. Al Msaddi said: 'This contrast reflects a global shift in investor confidence. Dubai has become a magnet for global capital, not just as a lifestyle destination, but as a secure investment environment where wealth is preserved and grown. 'It's where millionaires come to live, and more importantly, where they choose to invest.' With properties worth more than AED5m ($1.4m) accounting for 14 per cent of total sales last month, 30 per cent came in the AED1-2m ($272,000-545,000) range, 26 per cent below AED1m ($272,000), 18 per cent between AED2-3m ($545,0000-817,000) and 12 per cent between AED3-5m ($817-000-1.4m). Overall, first sales from developers far exceeded those of resales – 66 per cent over 34 per cent in terms of volume and 67 per cent over 33 per cent in overall value.

Inside the $2 billion rise of Petrochem's Yogesh Mehta – and what comes after
Inside the $2 billion rise of Petrochem's Yogesh Mehta – and what comes after

Arabian Business

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Inside the $2 billion rise of Petrochem's Yogesh Mehta – and what comes after

There's something disarming about Yogesh Mehta. For a man who built a $2 billion juggernaut from the dust, he makes you feel like he's just glad you showed up for lunch. 'I'm in the twilight zone,' he smiles. 'That's the best part of the clock. 9 PM to midnight. Whatever I want, I will do. Whoever I want to make happy, I will.' That's not the usual talk of a Gulf tycoon. But then again, Yogesh Mehta was never predictable – and never tried to be. He began working at 16. Not for pocket money, but to pay bills. By the time he landed in Dubai at 29, Mehta had already weathered the kind of personal and professional storms most would never recover from. 'We didn't have jam on the table. We were just trying to keep the lights on.' Back then, there was no LinkedIn, no mentors, and certainly no start-up ecosystem. Just a dusty library, a Yellow Pages, and a gut instinct that said: this place has promise. 'You carved water out of stone,' he says. Petrochem, the chemical distribution business he would go on to build, started with $300,000 in turnover. Today, it moves over $2 billion worth of product annually. From a single office in Dubai, Petrochem now spans London, Singapore, India, Taiwan, Egypt, and beyond. It is the largest chemical distributor in the Middle East and ranks among the top dozen globally. But Mehta rarely leads with numbers. He leads with feeling. 'We are a happy company. Our happiness quotient would be 100 out of 100.' Legacy in motion These days, Mehta isn't sprinting to win the race. 'I've already won,' he says. 'Why would I keep running if no one is behind me?' The line is vintage Mehta: calm, reflective, gently humorous. Yet his presence is anything but ceremonial. He still puts in six to nine hours a day, mentors key talent, and travels for business. Colleagues joke that he's 'semi-retired in theory, not in practice.' But while the engine still runs, it's no longer him behind the wheel. 'That's Rohan's job now,' he says. Rohan Mehta, his only son, is now Managing Director. Soft-spoken but sharp, Rohan brings a different temperament to the business – analytical, digital-first, globally attuned. Alongside CEO Venu Nayar, a 35-year veteran who has been with Mehta since age 22, the trio forms a rare trifecta of legacy, leadership and long-term thinking. 'Rohan brings the youngness,' Mehta says. 'The freshness. The new element.' The transition hasn't been symbolic. It's been gradual, deliberate and deeply embedded. 'You have to know when you become the stumbling block to growth,' Mehta says. 'I survive on gut instinct. But the company needs AI, digital transformation, and global intelligence. And I don't have those skills.' What he does have – what few can replicate – is a legacy of judgement. And a culture he's spent 30 years cultivating. 'The only thing I can do is lend my experience. Build the culture. And step back.' The world has changed Mehta is under no illusion that his journey could be easily replicated today. If anything, he's clear-eyed about just how dramatically the business landscape has evolved – and how much harder it is to break through now. 'If I, by myself, remembering what I did when I came here, I would think that it would be a very steep climb for me to succeed in the landscape of today,' he says. 'The reasons are that you need a very different skill set than we had to counter the uphill task or the uphill competition that the world is suffering from.' That competition isn't theoretical. It's global, immediate, and often overwhelming. 'China is the biggest competition to the world, to everything,' Mehta says. 'Oversupply of products is the biggest detriment to future growth.' As a distributor, Petrochem faces a volatile landscape where pricing, demand, and sourcing can shift overnight. 'The world works with a demand, supply balance. That is, when there is good demand, there is good supply – everyone is happy. When there is over demand and poor supply – the customer is not happy. When there is oversupply, but the world doesn't want it – nobody's happy.' The pace of change is relentless. 'Now the price structure in May might be very different than it was in March, and the customer who's received the cargo in May will say, 'Do you know that this morning, the price collapsed of the product that you're selling me?'' he explains. Even the most fundamental industry structures are changing. 'Disruptive technology is going to be the leader of the future,' he warns. 'Uber. Bike riders. Online platforms. Real-time logistics. These are shaping how the chemical world must operate too.' Technology isn't just affecting how Petrochem does business – it's also reshaping human behaviour. For Mehta, the rise of social media is emblematic of a broader cultural shift that prioritises speed and spectacle over substance. 'Social media is corrupting the world,' he says. 'It's misleading us. One day they tell you milk is good, the next day it's poison. Eggs are healthy, then they're dangerous. It's all confusion – noise without wisdom.' He doesn't just see it as a generational annoyance, but as a structural distraction. 'The blue light before bed, the endless scrolling, the false validation – none of it adds real value. People are spending so much time reacting to the world, they've stopped creating in it.' Beyond markets and machines, Mehta also sees a shift in mindset. 'The Millennials don't like to own. They like to lease. They don't think much about the marriage institution. They don't have that many children. All this affects the GDP of countries.' So what does it take to survive? 'We would need sharper skill sets. We would need a thicker skin, tongue in cheek. We would have to reduce our needs.' For Mehta, that context makes Petrochem's legacy all the more meaningful – and the next generation's challenge all the more complex. The heart of happiness Mehta's story is filled with hard-won wisdom. He doesn't airbrush the past. He speaks candidly of the moments when everything seemed stacked against him – times when he couldn't even afford the hospital bill for his son's birth. 'We had no money, and there was nobody to help,' he recalls. In another moment of brutal honesty, he describes how a heated argument with his sister led to years of silence before a moment of clarity struck him mid-flight to Lyon. 'I begged her forgiveness,' he says. 'She said, 'You're my brother. What are you talking about?'' These experiences didn't just shape him; they freed him. From those moments came humility, from humility came grace, and from grace came peace. Mehta is no longer a man consumed by ambition or the trappings of empire. 'I don't want to be Warren Buffett,' he says. 'Why would I run this company at 80? I'd rather be in Machu Picchu.' He talks about opening a restaurant – not for profit, but for joy. He plays golf, collects vinyls, and immerses himself in jazz. His cellar is curated with the same attention to detail he once gave to logistics spreadsheets. And when the day has been long and unforgiving? 'I ask my cook to make the spiciest egg curry. We open a vintage bottle and let it breathe. That's my therapy.' Much of that peace, he says, comes from the quiet strength of his wife. 'She's my companion. She's my mother, my mother-in-law, my sister, my lover, my mistress, my wife, grandmother… so I have a great company at home,' he says. 'We are best friends.' They've known each other since childhood – she was six, he was seven. That shared history has become the anchor to everything. 'My wife plays Mahjong and does a lot of charity work. She's been with me through it all. We think the same. We bring that part into the company.' It's not a retirement. It's a reinvention – one anchored by love, perspective, and personal peace. And perhaps the truest legacy of all: the freedom to savour life, with the person who's stood beside him through it all. Petrochem's people first philosophy Despite its scale, Petrochem remains proudly family-run. 'It's a mom-and-pop show with a $2 billion balance sheet,' Mehta quips. But behind that humour is a deeply serious ethical code. 'Keep your company happy, safe and secure. That's the whole ethos,' he says. 'You look after the people, and they will look after the numbers.' That ethos radiates from the top and touches every corner of the organisation. The receptionist, whom Mehta describes as the 'window to the world,' receives as much care and attention as the most senior executive. 'A courier or a CEO sees her first. Her mood, her smile – that's our first impression.' Expectant mothers are given daily fresh coconut water, saffron, and almonds. There's a private room for nursing, flexibility around maternity leave, and constant check-ins to ensure new mothers feel supported – not just accommodated. 'We treat it like a nursery,' Mehta says, 'because they're carrying our future.' There are gender parity targets, mental health sessions, and open-door HR policies. Fridays are for ice cream. Departments regularly take team-building trips to Fujairah or Ras Al Khaimah. The finance team does karaoke. Sales go on hiking retreats. 'We even have mock dance sessions,' he laughs. 'Because stress is huge in our line of work. And joy is serious business.' Building what's next Even as he fades from the daily frontlines, Mehta remains Petrochem's chief crusader. The company is investing in a $100 million terminal at Jebel Ali, a sprawling facility designed to triple its current storage capacity and meet the surging demand for just-in-time chemical logistics in the Gulf. Mehta describes it as the physical manifestation of Petrochem's future – strategically located, digitally optimised, and built for scale. Regionally, the firm is doubling down on Egypt, where two terminals – one in Alexandria, the other in Port Said – anchor its North African plans. Jordan and Syria are next. 'We were there before,' he says of Syria. 'And now we're going back. We build capacity quietly, and we let the service speak.' On the horizon is a bold shift: specialty chemical manufacturing. Plans are already underway to commission facilities that cater to high-margin sectors like pharmaceuticals, coatings, and advanced materials. Parallel to this, new offices in Europe and the Americas are expected to open within five years. 'It's all about adjacency,' Mehta explains. 'If you do one thing really well, you look at the next five things your customer needs.' Asked if an IPO is on the horizon, Mehta waves it off with the ease of someone who doesn't need an exit. 'We were offered $900 million six years ago. We said no. Maybe one day, if Rohan decides. Not me.' Because Mehta knows his exit isn't about control. It's about continuity. And the future of Petrochem, he believes, lies not in the headlines – but in the infrastructure being built quietly behind the scenes. In this reinvention chapter of his life, Mehta is clear: he doesn't want to be pigeonholed. 'I'm not a one-trick pony,' he says. 'I love this job, and I'm very good at it. But I also love jazz, food, travel, literature. Why would I only live one version of myself?' The final word When asked how he hopes to be remembered, Yogesh Mehta doesn't talk about market share or valuation. 'I wish to be known as a good guy,' he says. 'Not a tycoon. Just someone who brought good cheer. Who lived fully. Who left behind happiness.' There are few business leaders who could say that – and mean it. But then again, Yogesh Mehta was never the usual.

Admissions open for PwC Academy's Young Employable Scholar (YES) programme as higher education landscape shifts
Admissions open for PwC Academy's Young Employable Scholar (YES) programme as higher education landscape shifts

Khaleej Times

time39 minutes ago

  • Khaleej Times

Admissions open for PwC Academy's Young Employable Scholar (YES) programme as higher education landscape shifts

Fast-track programme offers ambitious UAE students a more accessible path to becoming chartered accountants amid rising education costs PwC Academy, the talent and skills development business of PwC Middle East, has opened admissions for the sixth edition of its highly successful Young Employable Scholar (YES) Programme. With 80% of graduates securing positions in leading organisations, this transformative higher education pathway combines the prestigious ACCA (the Association of Chartered Accountants) qualification with the UAE VAT Compliance Diploma and AI training. This two-and-a-half-year programme equips ambitious students with the fundamental skills needed to excel in a career in accounting and finance. The YES Programme reflects a wider shift in perception and expectation towards higher education. A recent report from World Economic Forum (WEF) and PwC found only around 50% of surveyed country's working populations are employed in professions that match their formal education level, highlighting a clear need for a more direct focus on job-relevant skills. The programme provides a combination of qualifications, practical training, and exposure to industry experts from a Big Four firm, directly preparing students for the work they will be performing. This new age approach is rapidly gaining recognition among high-achieving students seeking a first-class career in accounting or finance while side-stepping traditional higher education barriers. This cost and time-effective solution to higher education, tailor made by PwC professionals, targets the skills that will enable accountants to flourish in tomorrow's world. This accelerated timeline means graduates can start earning and advancing their careers while their peers are still studying. One recent graduate, who now works at PwC said: "The YES programme was a great experience that I couldn't recommend enough. The level of teaching and support I received throughout the programme was exceptional, and as a result I secured a role at PwC within a month of graduating." The YES Programme reflects a wider shift in professional qualification requirements. For example, a recent US study by specialist research platform Intelligent found 45% of surveyed companies are moving away from traditional degree requirements in favour of skills-based hiring. Beyond strengthening accounting and workplace skills, the programme is also a pathway to internship opportunities at renowned entities in the UAE, upon successful completion. For those seeking further education, graduates can advance directly to an MSc from University of London, bypassing traditional bachelor's degree requirements. Taimur Ali, PwC partner and head of qualifications at PwC Academy: 'The value of the YES programme goes far beyond cost and time savings. It provides students with a comprehensive academic experience, equipping them with the skills essential to excel in today's fast-paced world. Organisations in the region thrive on the agility and adaptability of their talent, which is why programmes such as YES are pivotal in shaping the leaders of tomorrow." The YES programme is open to exceptional high school graduates with strong academic performance in Mathematics and English who demonstrate leadership potential and commitment to a career in accounting or finance.

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