Dubai Financial Market's stock surged 15 per cent yesterday following reports that advisers had been hired for a planned merger with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
Speculation over such a deal first surfaced in May 2010, but no progress has been made public since the initial announcements from both bourses.
The UAE has three stock exchanges: ADX, DFM, and Nasdaq Dubai, which has been incorporated into DFM.
Abu Dhabi Executive Council, the top decision-making body in the emirate, has hired JPMorgan Chase and First Gulf Bank to serve as Abu Dhabi's advisers, according to a Reuters report yesterday.
Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), which controls the emirate's two bourses, has reportedly appointed Citigroup.
ICD, JPMorgan, Citigroup and First Gulf Bank declined to comment on the matter. The banks are striving to conclude a deal by the end of the year.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, this month appointed Essa Kazim, the DFM chief executive, as the governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre. Mr Kazim starts his new role in January. He declined to comment on the merger.
People with knowledge of the planned merger say the bidding for Abu Dhabi's advisory work began in August. JPMorgan and FGB were selected to advise on the deal. HSBC and National Bank of Abu Dhabi formed a separate consortium for the advisory contract.
On Tuesday NBAD circulated a report to clients in which it raised its profit forecast for DFM by 28.6 per cent to reflect the bourse’s increased trading volumes in the third quarter. Sanyalak Manibhandu, an NBAD analyst, has a buy rating on DFM shares, with a target price of Dh2.50 a share.
“When I put out the report [on Tuesday], I said I thought there was at least a 20 per cent upside, but today the shares have already risen about 15 per cent,” Mr Manibhandu said. “The last time news was active on the merger was in May and June,” he said.
On June 3, DFM shares rose 14 per cent, hitting their maximum daily trading limit, amid speculation about a potential merger with ADX.
“The UAE with two big exchanges would not be liquid as one national exchange,” Mr Manibhandu said. “Secondly, if the two exchanges were merged, there might be some savings. Aldar and Sorouh were a good example. From the perspective of a regulator and institutional investor, if they were to deal with one exchange, it’s easier than dealing with two.”
The markets have benefited from a trading bonanza over the past year amid renewed investor interest. The strong economic recovery and an uptick in merger-and-acquisition activity in blue-chip companies have bolstered trading.
The ADX General Index has risen more than 55.5 per cent this year, while the DFM General Index has shot up almost 82.4 per cent in the same period.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
Forced Deportations
While the Lebanese government has deported a number of refugees back to Syria since 2011, the latest round is the first en-mass campaign of its kind, say the Access Center for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization which monitors the conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
“In the past, the Lebanese General Security was responsible for the forced deportation operations of refugees, after forcing them to sign papers stating that they wished to return to Syria of their own free will. Now, the Lebanese army, specifically military intelligence, is responsible for the security operation,” said Mohammad Hasan, head of ACHR.
In just the first four months of 2023 the number of forced deportations is nearly double that of the entirety of 2022.
Since the beginning of 2023, ACHR has reported 407 forced deportations – 200 of which occurred in April alone.
In comparison, just 154 people were forcfully deported in 2022.
Violence
Instances of violence against Syrian refugees are not uncommon.
Just last month, security camera footage of men violently attacking and stabbing an employee at a mini-market went viral. The store’s employees had engaged in a verbal altercation with the men who had come to enforce an order to shutter shops, following the announcement of a municipal curfew for Syrian refugees.
“They thought they were Syrian,” said the mayor of the Nahr el Bared municipality, Charbel Bou Raad, of the attackers.
It later emerged the beaten employees were Lebanese. But the video was an exemplary instance of violence at a time when anti-Syrian rhetoric is particularly heated as Lebanese politicians call for the return of Syrian refugees to Syria.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
Company Profile
Company name: EduPloyment
Date started: March 2020
Co-Founders: Mazen Omair and Rana Batterjee
Base: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Recruitment
Size: 30 employees
Investment stage: Pre-Seed
Investors: Angel investors (investment amount undisclosed)
Company profile
Company name: Letswork
Started: 2018
Based: Dubai
Founders: Omar Almheiri, Hamza Khan
Sector: co-working spaces
Investment stage: $2.1 million in a seed round with investors including 500 Global, The Space, DTEC Ventures and other angel investors
Number of employees: about 20
BACK TO ALEXANDRIA
Director: Tamer Ruggli
Starring: Nadine Labaki, Fanny Ardant
Rating: 3.5/5
Other key dates
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Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
The Iron Claw
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Holt McCallany, Lily James
Rating: 4/5
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James Mustich, Workman
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
Kandahar
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Stars: Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, Ali Fazal
Rating: 2.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SPECS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
