US-based technology start-up Reef, which is backed by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital, has joined forces with Americana Group, the largest food and beverage operator in the Middle East, to open cloud kitchens in the region.
These will operate Reef, Americana and third-party brands throughout the Middle East and North Africa region, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.
“As Reef continues its international expansion, this highly strategic partnership is a milestone that will serve as a model for the ways our ecosystem can deliver rich market-backed content to new locations,” Ramez Shehadi, president of international and chief growth officer of Reef, said.
“We look forward to growing this relationship and replicating it across many priority markets in the near future.”
In November 2020, Mubadala Capital, a wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, led a $700 million funding round for Reef. Following that, Reef acquired a UAE-based cloud kitchen company iKcon Restaurant, marking its first major deal in the region.
The Miami-based company provides technology solutions to turn under-utilised urban spaces – such as car parks – into neighbourhood hubs. The redesigned spaces can be used for businesses such as cloud kitchens, retail units or even Covid-19 testing facilities. Reef employs 18,000 people and operates in about 8,000 locations.
The start-up was valued at $1 billion when SoftBank acquired a stake in 2018.
A cloud kitchen – also known as a dark or ghost kitchen – is a restaurant that only accepts delivery orders. The set-up consists of a shared kitchen that prepares food delivered to platforms such as Zomato, Deliveroo, Talabat and Uber Eats.
The size of the global cloud kitchen market stood at about $43.1 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 12 per cent to reach $71.4bn by 2027, according to Allied Market Research.
“FoodTech is an exciting space and offers vast opportunities to grow our customer base … as technology and ordering trends continue to evolve, we believe this collaboration will bring mutual synergies and benefit in the long run,” Amarpal Sandhu, chief executive of Americana Restaurants, said.
Founded in Kuwait in 1964, Americana introduced the concept of fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970.
The group owns exclusive franchise rights for the management and operation of more than 1,950 restaurants in 13 markets across the Mena and Commonwealth of Independent States region. It represents leading brands including KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s, Krispy Kreme, Wimpy and TGI Fridays, among others.
The latest partnership is expected to bring convenient access to some of the most-loved brands to neighbourhoods across Mena, said Michael Beacham, president of Reef Kitchens.
“Americana is renowned for their outstanding operations and a deep commitment to quality. We look forward to an enduring partnership and helping to build the future of the industry together,” he said.
Sweet%20Tooth
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Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
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Funding: Privately funded
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Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
Table 1 Ireland, 89 points; 2 Afghanistan, 81; 3 Netherlands, 52; 4 Papua New Guinea, 40; 5 Hong Kong, 39; 6 Scotland, 37; 7 UAE, 27; 8 Namibia, 27
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Boston%20Strangler
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
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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
'Nope'
Non-oil%20trade
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Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
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The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
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4.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
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(Verve Decca Crossover)
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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