MUST-READS

• Warburg Pincus Partners With Hassana to Chase Saudi Arabia Deals

  Warburg Pincus LLC and Saudi Arabia’s $320 billion pension fund manager will jointly explore deals in the kingdom as the global private equity firm looks to boost its presence in the Middle East. The $86 billion firm’s peers like Ardian SAS, General Atlantic and CVC Capital Partners have either opened offices for deal-making in the region or boosted headcount.  Warburg currently has exposure to the Middle Eastern market through Gradiant, a clean-tech water projects solutions provider and developer. Its previous investments in the region include BPO solutions provider Mercator, which it combined it with Accelya and exited in 2019, and payments firm Network International.

• Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority Chief Forges ‘Landmark’ Boxing Promotion Partnership With TKO and Saudi’s Sela

  Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia‘s General Entertainment Authority, has forged a multi-year boxing promotion partnership with U.S. sports and entertainment conglomerate TKO and Saudi sports marketing company Sela in what is being touted as a landmark deal. He is the mastermind behind the “Day of Reckoning” boxing matches held in Riyadh involving huge names such as Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Over the past few years Alalshikh has been behind Saudi Arabia’s large investments in many other sports as well, including soccer, golf, Formula 1 and, most recently, tennis.

• TKO Launches Boxing Promotion Partnership With Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh, Sela Group

  UFC and WWE parent TKO Group has, as promised, jumped into boxing, inking a partnership with Saudi Arabia. The deal with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, and Sela, the Saudi national entertainment and events conglomerate, will establish a new boxing promotion that will provide a platform for leading boxers and prospects in the sport. TKO will serve as managing partner, providing day-to-day operational expertise, management and oversight of the promotion, with executive leadership anchored by UFC CEO Dana White and WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan. TKO CEO Mark Shapiro called the agreement “a strategic opportunity to reimagine the sport of boxing globally.” He had teased a deal as imminent on an earnings call last week. “TKO has the deep expertise, promotional prowess, and longstanding relationships. HE Turki Alalshikh and Sela share our passion and vision for evolving the current model. Together, we can bring the sweet science back to its rightful place in the forefront of the global sports ecosystem.”

• Saudi Arabia’s Renewed Commitment to Palestinian Cause: A Legacy Laid Out by King Abdulaziz

  At the Arab Summit in Beirut in March 2002, the Kingdom reaffirmed its commitment to the Palestinian cause by presenting a practical framework for achieving a comprehensive and just resolution to the Middle East conflict. This proposal, later known as the Arab Peace Initiative, was adopted by Arab leaders and officially approved during the summit. In line with the continued commitment to the Palestinian cause, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud named the 29th Arab Summit, held in Dhahran in April 2018, the Al-Quds Summit. He also announced that Saudi Arabia was donating $150 million to support Islamic institutions in Jerusalem and $50 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Saudi Arabia continues its efforts to support the Palestinian cause as part of its Arab and Islamic responsibilities.

• ‘New phase of Lebanese-Saudi ties’ after Riyadh talks: Aoun

  The talks “fell within the framework of enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries and paving the way for the signing of several agreements in various fields,” a statement said. Aoun and the crown prince held a 45-minute private meeting, “during which they continued discussions on issues of mutual interest to both countries and their brotherly peoples.” In a joint statement issued after the talks, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon “emphasized the importance of strengthening Arab cooperation and coordinating positions on key regional and international issues.”

• Diriyah Art Futures Reflects Growing Saudi Investment in Digital Art

  Located prominently on King Faisal Road in Al Bujairi, Diriyah, just northwest of Riyadh, is the vast new 129,000 square foot Diriyah Art Futures institute. Inaugurated in December 2024, the new media arts center is dedicated to the rapidly expanding genre of digital art and is among the first institute of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa. Developed by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture, Diriyah Art Futures highlights the kingdom’s growing interest and investment in art and culture involving new technology and artificial intelligence. Haytham Nawar, director of Diriyah Art Futures and former chair of the arts department at the American University in Cairo, said the exhibition is significant because “it provides a historical overview” of digital art. “In Saudi, there is knowledge of the history of computational art, especially the usage of AI and generative art,” added Nawar. “What it does is connect international artists in the field with those working in Saudi.”

• Saudi Arabia – Rise of a global diplomatic power?: Video

  Saudi Arabia is increasingly positioning itself at the center of various high-stakes diplomatic processes. In recent months, it has taken on key roles as backer, mediator, or host to ongoing negotiations, including on a Gaza settlement, Russian-US normalization and a cease-fire in Ukraine, support for Lebanon and Syria, as well as efforts to end the Sudanese civil war. How do such Saudi diplomatic interventions fit into the kingdom’s broader political-economic transformation efforts? This on-the-record briefing featured Middle East Institute (MEI) Associate Fellow Norman T. Roule, a 34-year veteran of the CIA whose current work focuses on issues concerning the Gulf states and Iran. The briefing also featured F. Gregory Gause III, Visiting Scholar at MEI and author of three books focused on the Persian Gulf.

• Analysis: Where are US-Saudi defence ties heading?

  Discussing whether a stronger synergy between Washington and Riyadh will impact Saudi-Iran ties, Roberto Neccia, an independent Iran analyst, told The New Arab that the prince’s meeting with Hegseth took place in a very different geopolitical scenario from that existing at the time of the first Trump administration. “The fall of Assad, the downsizing of the resistance axis, the good relations between Tehran and Riyadh, and the constructive engagement of Iran with the countries of the Persian Gulf have all changed the regional perspective,” Neccia said. The prince’s visit should be “seen in the context of the traditional relations between the Saudis and the American defence conglomerate and, probably, in the context of a potential future, but at the moment difficult and unlikely, Saudi rapprochement with Israel”.  Due to the prevailing uncertainty, Saudi Arabia seems to have modified its aims from seeking a comprehensive US defence treaty to pursuing a more modest military cooperation agreement. This adjustment reflects the complexities of regional geopolitics.

• UFC & WWE owners finalise Saudi deal for boxing league

  TKO Group Holdings, which owns the UFC and WWE, has launched a new boxing promotion backed by investment from Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has invested heavily in boxing in recent years with Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's general entertainment authority, at the fore. The UFC and WWE, who merged in a £17.3bn deal under the TKO umbrella in 2023, also hold events in the Kingdom. In a joint statement. Alalshikh and TKO said they had agreed a "multi-year partnership to establish a new boxing promotion". It is unclear what the league would look like and who would compete in it, with most of boxing's biggest stars under contract with key promoters such as Eddie Hearn's Matchroom, Bob Arum's Top Rank and Frank Warren's Queensberry.

• Exclusive Q&A: Jay Monahan on the Saudi talks, reshaping golf and engaging his critics

  We continue to state that we're doing all that we can to reunify the game because our fans are saying that's what they want, the best players competing together more often. We feel that's a commitment we've got to see through for our fans and for our players. If you look at our comments, it's been enthusiasm around reunification and a confidence in the efforts that we're taking, not only the best interests of the Tour but the best interests of the game. Coming out of our last meeting, the President said he was optimistic about a deal getting done. Yasir [al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor] called it a good meeting. When you’re in the midst of complex negotiations you have ebbs and flows, but I don’t feel less confident that we can get there and I don't think my comments have reflected anything other than that. We appreciate Yasir’s innovative vision and can see a future where we welcome him onto our Board and work together to move our global game forward.

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