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Goldman Sachs and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have entered into a co-investment alongside PAI Partners in Froneri, valuing the ice­cream conglomerate at around €15 billion, including debt. The transaction restructures PAI’s 50 per cent stake in Froneri by rolling it into a new vehicle, with ADIA as a “significant minority” and a Goldman-led continuation vehicle also taking a position.

PAI has formally completed the €3.6 billion equity transaction, creating a fresh ownership arrangement for its Froneri shareholding. The Goldman Sachs Alternatives instruments, deployed via a single-asset continuation vehicle, attracted oversubscription, while the ADIA subsidiary secured its role as co-investor. PAI emphasised the move underscores confidence in Froneri’s trajectory and enables further growth ambitions. The firm also appointed Weil as legal counsel for the transaction.

Froneri, launched in 2016 as a 50:50 joint venture between PAI’s R&R Ice Cream and Nestlé’s European ice cream operations, now reports annual revenues near €5.5 billion and over 12,000 employees across 25 markets. In 2019 it further expanded by acquiring Nestlé’s U. S. ice cream arm—bringing brands such as Häagen-Dazs, Drumstick, and Outshine into its portfolio. That acquisition elevated Froneri’s global presence and sharpened the competition with Unilever’s Ice Cream business, soon to be spun off as Magnum Ice Cream Company.

Nestlé is retaining its circa 50 per cent share in Froneri and has expressed support for this new capital injection and structural reset. PAI, on its part, expects the new format to help it maintain alignment with institutional investors while reaping long-term value from an asset already showing consistent growth.

The ADIA involvement aligns with the sovereign fund’s strategy to diversify into private equity and alternative investments. ADIA was among the most active sovereign wealth funds in the first nine months of 2025, particularly in co-investment deals and private equity events across global markets. Placing capital into a well–established consumer goods platform like Froneri helps balance its portfolio between growth and stability.

Continuation vehicles, such as the one orchestrated by Goldman Sachs in this case, have seen increasing adoption in private equity markets. They allow firms to extend holding periods for assets beyond the life of original funds, while offering liquidity options to existing limited partners. In this Froneri transaction, demand exceeded expectations—signalling investor appetite for high-quality consumer assets.

A wave of investor appetite lifted the combined market cap of the top 15 public bitcoin miners to $58.1 billion in September, up from $41.6 billion in August and nearly three times the March low of $19.9 billion. That gain vastly outpaced bitcoin’s six-month rise of 21 per cent.

Iris Energy delivered a standout return of +624 per cent, while Applied Digital jumped +345 per cent and Cipher Mining rallied +321 per cent. Other strong performers included TeraWulf, Hut 8 and Bitfarms, up between +179 and +280 per cent; Riot Platforms added +147 per cent, HIVE rose +133 per cent, and Core Scientific gained +105 per cent. Even industry heavyweights such as CleanSpark, Bitdeer and Mara Holdings posted returns well above bitcoin’s own gain.

The bullish momentum coincided with accelerating pivots by mining firms into high-performance computing and AI infrastructure. Cipher Mining secured a 10-year colocation deal with AI cloud provider Fluidstack worth $3 billion, supported by $1.4 billion in backing from Google for lease obligations in return for share warrants. This deal boosted investor confidence and underscored the strategic shift beyond raw bitcoin mining.

Analysts note that miners with credible AI/HPC pivots posted average gains of roughly 57 per cent over the past month, significantly beating more traditional or “pure-play” miners. Those gains also outstripped bitcoin’s roughly 9 per cent rise in the same period.

At the same time, the bitcoin network’s hash rate jumped 9 per cent month on month, reaching an average of about 1,031 exahashes per second. That increase intensified competition and compressed margins: daily block reward revenue fell 10 per cent, and gross profit dropped 17 per cent compared to August.

Although elevated valuations reflect renewed investor faith in the mining sector, concerns about sustainability persist. The widening gap between equity valuations and operating revenues prompts questions about whether mining operators can sustain growth amid rising electricity costs, regulatory risks and hardware supply constraints.

Several firms are doubling down on their diversification efforts. Iris Energy has expanded into cloud services, while Core Scientific is pushing deeper into enterprise AI hosting. TeraWulf recently announced multi-year AI hosting contracts backed by Google and leased deployment capacity across its sites.

Kuwait has issued $11.25 billion in sovereign bonds split across three maturities, marking its first successful US dollar debt sale since 2017 and signalling a renewed re-entry into global capital markets. The offering drew strong investor demand, allowing the country to secure attractive pricing even as it seeks to diversify its funding amid mounting fiscal pressures.

The issuance comprised $3.25 billion in three-year bonds at 40 basis points over US Treasuries, $3 billion in five-year bonds also at 40 bps, and $5 billion in ten-year bonds at 50 bps. Order books reached as high as $28 billion—roughly 2.5 times oversubscribed—enabling Kuwait to tighten guidance from initial levels. Over two-thirds of the allocations went to investors outside the Middle East and North Africa, with significant participation from the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia.

Acting Finance Minister Subaih Al-Mukhaizeem described the deal as “historic”, citing that it reflects “global markets’ confidence in Kuwait’s financial strength, prudent policies, and solid reserves.” He added that this issuance reinforces Kuwait’s reputation as a credible sovereign issuer while supporting the New Kuwait 2035 vision of economic transformation.

Analysts noted that the spreads achieved in this issuance are significantly tighter than Kuwait’s inaugural dollar bond sale in 2017, underscoring market optimism about its credit metrics and macro outlook. Its low debt burden—currently less than 10 percent of GDP—offers the space for measured borrowing, even while the International Monetary Fund projects that the ratio may rise toward 25 percent by 2030 as deficits widen.

The path to this issuance was opened in March with the passage of a long-delayed public debt law, which raised the borrowing ceiling from KD 10 billion to KD 30 billion and permitted longer maturities. That law had been stalled for years due to clashes between the appointed government and the elected parliament; in response, the emir dissolved parliament for up to four years, clearing the way for reform.

Kuwait is the latest Gulf sovereign to take advantage of favourable global interest rates and strong investor appetite, joining others such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in tapping dollar markets to address fiscal gaps and finance diversification programmes.

While the bond sale delivers fresh funding, questions remain about Kuwait’s strategy for deploying the proceeds. Its economy remains heavily dependent on hydrocarbon revenues, which accounted for nearly 90 percent of government income in the most recent fiscal year. Previous reporting indicates that proposed projects include infrastructure upgrades such as a new port and airport expansion, intended to generate non-oil revenue streams.

GlobalSource Partners had speculated earlier that Kuwait’s general deficit could rise to between 7 and 8 percent of GDP in the current year, with this issuance expected to cover a large portion of the shortfall. The country has also tapped local debt markets, issuing about $5 billion in domestic bonds before turning to international markets.

London-based CoinShares, a leading European digital asset manager with about US$10 billion in assets under management, has struck a deal to acquire FCA-regulated Bastion Asset Management. The transaction, which must clear approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, is intended to bolster CoinShares’ actively managed crypto offerings and accelerate its push into the US institutional market.

Under the agreement, Bastion’s strategies, quantitative team and leadership, including CEO Philip Scott and CIO Fred Desobry, will be integrated into CoinShares. Bastion is known for deploying market-neutral and systematic investment strategies tailored for institutional clients. The acquisition allows CoinShares to complement its existing passive exposure products with alpha-oriented solutions.

CoinShares is already positioning for expansion across the Atlantic. It is in the process of going public in the United States via a definitive business combination with SPAC Vine Hill Capital Investment Corp, valuing the firm at roughly US$1.2 billion on a pro forma basis. CoinShares currently holds a dominant 34 percent share of the EMEA crypto ETP market and ranks as the fourth largest global digital asset ETP manager after BlackRock, Grayscale and Fidelity.

With Bastion’s integration, CoinShares aims to fuse its Investment Advisor registration in the US with new actively managed strategies targeting institutional investors. By combining quantitative alpha models with its distribution infrastructure, the firm seeks to differentiate itself from both traditional asset managers entering the crypto space and crypto-native infrastructure providers.

Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO and Co-Founder of CoinShares, described the acquisition as closely aligned with the firm’s goal of offering comprehensive digital asset solutions to its global clientele. Bastion’s team brings extensive expertise: Fred Desobry has over 17 years’ experience in systematic investing and quantitative research; Philip Scott brings more than 25 years in financial services.

The acquisition takes shape against evolving regulatory backdrops. In Europe, CoinShares recently secured Markets in Crypto-Assets authorisation for its French subsidiary, making it the only continental European asset manager to hold all three major regional licenses. The US regulatory environment is also shifting: the Securities and Exchange Commission’s adoption of generic listing standards for commodity-based exchange traded products is shortening approval timelines from roughly 240 days to 75 days. This regulatory clarity is viewed as conducive to faster rollout of actively managed crypto funds.

By K Raveendran Bill Gates’ recent revelation about how a critical recruitment drive of fifteen Indian engineers had once saved Microsoft from slipping into irrelevance comes at a time when the United States under Donald Trump is imposing restrictive visa measures that are designed to block the very talent pool that had proven indispensable for […]

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Dubai-based AMIS Development has received the opening tranche of Dh5 billion from Singapore’s First APAC Fund VCC, following a memorandum signed in November 2024 to invest the full amount over time. The capital injection will be used to accelerate AMIS’s land acquisitions, expand its project pipeline, and progress ongoing luxury residential developments across Dubai.

Founder and CEO Neeraj Mishra confirmed that the funds are earmarked for strategic purchases in key areas such as Meydan and Dubai Islands, as well as advancing flagship projects already underway. He described the investment as a vote of confidence in AMIS’s vision and execution. Darrell Lim, founding shareholder and director at First APAC Fund, said this initial disbursement marks a milestone in their collaboration and pledged continued support tied to performance.

AMIS is working on multiple high-end residential projects including Woodland Terraces and the recently announced Woodland Crest, scheduled for handover in the second quarter of 2027. The developer previously sold out its Woodland Residences development, valued at Dh425 million, with delivery expected in April 2026. The new funding is set to support these and future projects, giving AMIS greater flexibility to accelerate timelines and expand its footprint.

The First APAC Fund is managed by Pilgrim Partners Asia, licensed under Singapore’s regulatory framework. For the AMIS deal, PPA has appointed Greenback Capital Limited, a Dubai-based firm, as the sub-investment manager to oversee transaction structuring and monitoring. Funds will be deployed in tranches, subject to milestones in AMIS’s project execution.

Dubai has secured a position among the world’s top four FinTech centres, according to the latest Global Financial Centres Index published on 25 September, signalling a pivotal shift in the emirate’s financial technology trajectory.

The GFCI report places Dubai at 11th globally in the overall ranking of financial centres, but underscores its standing as one of the most dynamic hubs for FinTech innovation. The Dubai International Financial Centre has played a central role in driving this transformation.

DIFC now houses over 1,500 companies focused on AI, FinTech, and innovation, making it the region’s largest cluster of its kind. These firms have collectively raised more than US$4.2 billion in funding, strengthening the UAE’s appeal as a destination for growth-stage tech ventures. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, credited the rise to the strategic goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and to Dubai’s business-friendly infrastructure and regulatory regime.

Essa Kazim, Governor of the DIFC, stressed that the momentum reflects long-term planning and deep investment. He noted that positioning Dubai among the top global FinTech players has required calibrated incentives, robust legal frameworks, and international partnerships. Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of the DIFC Authority, said the locale’s success stems from synergy among institutional support, talent attraction, and ecosystem-building efforts.

Dubai’s ascent in the FinTech league emerges amid intensifying global competition. Traditional financial centres such as London, Singapore, and Hong Kong continue to maintain strong footholds, leveraging established networks, global institutions, and mature regulatory systems. Yet Dubai’s rapid rise indicates that newer hubs with nimble regulation and aggressive incentives can leapfrog in the tech-driven financial services landscape.

The GFCI 38 ranking shows Dubai overtaking several peers in the Gulf and Asia, with the city gaining one rank to 11th place overall and closing gaps in score metrics used to assess competitiveness, such as human capital, reputation, and business environment. The GFCI emphasises that “expected future significance” is one of the domains in which Dubai leads globally—an indication that market participants foresee further growth in its influence.