Arcapita Capital Company, a subsidiary of Arcapita Group Holdings Limited, announced on Wednesday that it has closed KSA Logistics Fund III for SAR1.8 billion ($500 million).

The fund was backed by a leading sovereign wealth fund from the GCC region and other major institutional investors.

Arcapita Group has already invested a significant portion of the fund in a portfolio of industrial real estate assets across the manufacturing and warehousing sectors.

The company plans to invest the rest of the fund in strategically located assets across Riyadh, Jeddah, and the Eastern Province.

Arcapita will also develop long-term off-take arrangements with tenants, by taking a built-to-suit approach.

This fund is in alignment with Arcapita’s strategy of bringing its international expertise in industrial real estate to the Kingdom’s industrial sector to support its ambitions of becoming a global logistics hub.

Hisham Al Raee, Deputy CEO of Arcapita Group, said, “Today marks an essential milestone in our strategic expansion in Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the MENA region.

We currently manage over SAR3.8 billion ($1 billion) of industrial warehousing assets in KSA and the GCC region, and our investor base includes pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and financial institutions.

The industrial and logistics sectors are key components of the Kingdom’s Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, which aims to attract SAR 40 billion ($10.6 billion) in investments.

We look forward to continuing to deploy our expertise in the industrial real estate sector to play a key role in transforming the Kingdom into a global logistics hub.”

Yousif Al Abdulla, Managing Director and Head of MENA Investment at Arcapita Group, has expressed his optimism towards the growth of Saudi Arabia’s industrial real estate market.

He believes that the market will experience substantial growth over the long term, driven by the significant and continued growth of e-commerce across the Kingdom and by strong government-led investment in infrastructure and the industrial sector.

Arcapita Group’s portfolio strategy will leverage opportunities presented by the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, as well as the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan.

Arcapita Group’s management team has managed more than SAR24.3 billion ($6.5 billion) in industrial and logistics real estate transactions globally, including over SAR5.6 billion ($1.5 billion) in the GCC region, over the past 25 years. Furthermore, Arcapita Group has a strong track record of investing in the Kingdom, with nearly SAR1.5 billion ($400 million) in investments over the past 10 years.

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The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has signed an agreement for the Deir Alla and Karameh water networks rehabilitation project in Balqa. 

The sixth phase of this project aims to drill 16 wells in the Abu Zyghan area, with a value of 97.24 million euros. 

The funding for this project comes from a loan provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) as well as self-finance, while the studies, design, and supervision aspects were secured through a grant from USAID. 

The project’s goal is to improve the water supply across 17 areas in Deir Alla and Karameh districts through seven different packages. 

By adopting natural flow pumping techniques, the scheme aims to extend the operational longevity of water networks, enhance service efficiency, and promote equitable water distribution. 

Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abul Saud emphasized the ministry’s dedication to speeding up the deployment of these new networks to deal with the increasing pressures of demand. 

He also reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to addressing the challenges posed by surging water demand across the Kingdom. 

The drilling of the 16 wells in Abu Zayghan, costing $13.550 million, includes an exploratory well designed to bolster water availability in Deir Alla and Karameh. 

Expressing gratitude for the international support received, the minister referred to the role of the European Union, particularly the EIB and USAID, in facilitating the financial funds necessary to implement projects to face challenges of the water sector in light of increasing demand. 

Read More on Water Projects.

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Al Ayuni, a Saudi-based investment and contracting company recently announced that it was awarded $532 million in contracts by Diriyah Company which is part of Saudi Arabia’s PIF (sovereign wealth fund).

Al-Ayuni is a contractor in Saudi Arabia that has been providing services since 2006, operates in a variety of business sectors, including roads and bridges, railway, building, marble and mining, energy, water and power, as well as real estate industries.

Recently, Diriyah Company Group CEO Jerry Inzerillo signed a contract with Al Ayuni CEO Engineer Waleed Hamad Albathe at the Public Investment Fund and the Private Sector Forum held in Riyadh.

The company also secured a design and build contract from Roshn Group, a leading developer in the kingdom powered by Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund (PIF), for public facilities and residential units within the Al Falwa community in the Eastern Province. Al Bathe signed the contract with senior Roshn officials at the PIF and Private Sector Forum.

Al Ayuni compeleted Projects:

The company has completed multiple mega-projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia such as:

Sharma to Tabuk road upgrade: which involved the construction of 30 km of road works and ancillary works.

Tabuk Madina expressway: it involved the construction of 40 km Expressway Road works, including 18 bridges and 48 culverts.

Arafat infra project: The construction of a 80 km road including 10 bridges, 30 culverts and an infra development tent with storm drainage network and other utilities.

More projects are being constructed by Al-Ayuni company in plans for Saudi Arabia’s Vision2030.

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Joby Aviation, a company that develops commercial electric aircraft services signed an agreement with Dubai’s Road and Transportation Authority to launch their air taxi services in the emirates in collaboration with Skyports.

• Skyports will construct, improve, own and operate vertiports to provide take-off and landing platforms at specific locations in the Emirate of Dubai.
• Joby Aviation will manufacture and operate air taxis in the emirate.
• Dubai’s Road and Transportation Authority will oversee and regulate the process.

With this agreement, Dubai will become the first location that allows commercial electric flying taxis, with Skyports having exclusive rights to build and operate Vertiports in Dubai.

The agreement laid plans for four vertiports located by Dubai International Airport, Dubai Downtown, Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina, with an estimated flight time of 10 minutes between Dubai International Airport and Palm Jumeirah compared to 45-50 minutes by car.

Studies have been conducted at four locations and the architectural design for the first phase of development has begun. The Vertiport certification and approval process has commenced with several critical government stakeholders including the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), Dubai Air Navigation Services (DANS), and others.

Duncan Walker, founder and CEO of Skyports said: “Today marks a significant step towards the launch of commercial air taxi services in Dubai. The industry has never been closer to making it a reality.”

“This agreement brings together the key enablers of advanced air mobility: strong, innovative local leadership; a world-leading aircraft partner; and critical ground infrastructure integrated with the Emirate’s existing transportation networks.” He added.

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 The largest operator of fully integrated economic zones, business services, staff accommodation, and industrial real estate solutions in UAE has recently announced that they are expanding their warehousing capacity by developing an additional 250,000 square meters. This is in addition to their previous estimate of 587,000 square meters from Q3 2023, out of which 93,000 square meters were allotted for cold storage facilities.

The group is investing $169M to boost its warehouse capacity by 43% by 2025, The group has already begun construction due to the strong demand for warehousing and other prebuilt facilities across the emirate of Abu Dhabi, this includes but is not limited to constructing more than 97,500 square meters of leasable area in Khalifa (KEZAD Al Ma’mourah A, B)  industrial area and more than 15,300 square meters of leasable area in ICAD 3.

Kezad Group has already developed and delivered over 270,000 square meters of warehouse capacity since Q3 2022, with the leased area seeing a 66% increase over that period. The development includes prebuilt facilities to fit various sizes and specifications, consisting of logistics and distribution warehouses, light industrial units, and showrooms of different sizes.

The Kezad group’s CEO, Mohamed Al Khadar Al Ahmed, announced that their goal to strengthen and improve the ecosystem and zones has resulted in an increased and continuous demand for warehousing and industrial units and that they are committed to developing more facilities to meet the current and future demands while holding a competitive cost of doing business to expand and reach new markets in the region.

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