GLOBAL
Global Investment House Saudi Arabia (Global-Saudi) has received permission from the Saudi Financial Authority to launch its operations in private placements, M&As, privatizations, advisory services and IPOs, It was announced in Kuwait on Sunday. Global-Saudi is a full-fledged investment bank with a capital of SR50 million. It carries out various financial services such as the establishment and management of investment funds, portfolio management, international brokerage, private and public placement, underwriting, advisory, dealings as a principal and as an agent as well as custody. Maha Al-Ghunaim, chairperson and managing director at Global said: “We firmly believe in the importance and necessity of having a direct presence in the Saudi market and to take advantage of the Kingdom’s huge economy and capital market, especially since Global has a track-record in placements and corporate finance operations, along with the management and establishment of its 30 investment funds.”
FORD
Ford Middle East recently recognized Al-Jazirah Vehicles Agencies Co., the Ford and Lincoln importer-dealer in Saudi Arabia, for registering its highest ever sales for the Ford and Lincoln brands in the Kingdom during 2008. The Ford and Lincoln sales in the Kingdom grew by an unprecedented 53 percent, with growth registered on both passenger cars, up by 42 percent, and the trucks and SUV segments, up by 67 percent. Ford Crown Victoria, Explorer and Expedition headed the best selling nameplates. Ford posted a 23 percent growth in sales across the GCC markets during 2008. “This is an outstanding achievement on behalf of Al-Jazirah Vehicles that deserves to be recognized and commended,” said Waldo Galan, Ford Middle East’s managing director, as he presented the Ford Motor Company Excellence Award to Abdullah bin Fahad Al-Kraidees, Al-Jazirah Vehicles’ president. “Their dedication to the Ford and Lincoln business and their relentless drive for improving the sales and service experience and customer satisfaction levels as well as their strategic expansion drive throughout the Kingdom have allowed the Ford and Lincoln customer base to further expand during last year.” Al-Kraidees said: “In the past two decades, Al-Jazirah Vehicles has carved itself a solid reputation for offering the best ownership experience of a Ford or a Lincoln vehicle in the Kingdom.”
SAS SYSTEMS
SAS Systems Engineering organized a seminar on “Fire protection systems and their applications” in Jeddah on Sunday, which was attended by representatives of Saudi Electricity Company, Saudi Aramco, engineering contracting companies and consultants. SAS hosted similar events in Riyadh and Alkhobar this week. With its specialties including systems related to fire protection, security and communication, and automation and control, SAS has become a major entity with an experience of over 22 years and a team of highly qualified and trained engineers, SAS General Manager Hovig Kurkyan said in his opening remarks. Nadeem Shamsi, head of SAS’ fire protection department profiled the company in his presentation. SAS Marketing Engineer Irfanuddin Ahmed conducted the event. Speakers included Bill Goldstucker of Kidde Fire Systems, Du Pont’s Mohammed Shehabi and Mark L. Robin, Erik Schobesberger of Marioff, Fawzi Fattel, and Tareq El-Imam of Kidde-USA.
STC
STC has recently launched ‘One Million Afaq DSL Customers’ promotion with a grand prize of SR1 million, plus additional prizes of 10 free lifetime subscriptions to the Afaq DSL Shamel Internet service, 100 free two-year subscriptions and 1,000 free one-year subscriptions. Other winners will get valuable prizes and surprises in the draw, which continues till the end of February. “STC has now reached a total of one million Afaq DSL subscribers and we are sharing the celebration with our customers by offering them the chance to win one of these big prizes in this draw, which is a way of expressing our sincere appreciation for their loyalty,” STC said. “We hit our target of one million in record time due the immediate recognition of Afaq DSL as a breakthrough development in broadband services, making it the first and best choice in the Kingdom.” Afaq DSL broadband service consists of an open round-the-clock Internet line and is considered to be the “safest, most reliable, most affordable and most user-friendly” Internet service.
LG
LG Electronics and its air conditioners distributor in Saudi Arabia, H.G. Ibrahim Shaker Co. Ltd., have won the Tower 180 project contract in Madinah. The project, a 14-floor hotel in addition to the ground floor and the mezzanine, will benefit from the new LG’s Multi V Tropical model (VRF) for air-conditioning the hotel. The new five-star hotel is part of six major developments launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah around the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. The SR35 billion project includes expansion of the mosque’s northern courtyard and construction of residential towers to provide more housing and prayer facilities for pilgrims. The total area of the SR12 billion residential towers is estimated at 587,250 square meters, including 5-star hotels, commercial centers and prayer facilities for 200,000 worshippers. The general contractor of the project is the Saudi ABV General Contractors Co. “The project will be completed by the end of 2009,” LG’s GM Simon Lee said. Monzer Khammash, Western Region CAC manager, Ibrahim Shaker Company, said LG’s Multi V technology had proved its efficiency and durability.
MINI CABRIO
The MINI Cabrio made its world debut in Detroit this week. Staying true to its new motto, ‘Always Open’, the MINI Cabrio literally broke the ice to reveal its hot new look and demonstrate its versatility even in winter weather. Displayed in a new custom MINI Cabrio color, bright ‘Interchange Yellow’, the car did not disappoint. Taking only 15 seconds to open the soft top, the MINI Cabrio has improved in design, and boasts optimized handling, performance, efficiency and functionality. “The new car is more focused than ever on the fun of open air driving. With a built-in timer to measure how long the hood is down, a retractable roll over bar and features to optimize fuel economy and minimize emissions, the Cabrio proves that the MINI brand, now in its 50th anniversary year, continues to thrive,” said Sarah Klippert, MINI manager of BMW Group Middle East in Jeddah. The new MINI Cabrio will enter the regional market in April with two models, the MINI Cooper Cabrio and the MINI Cooper S Cabrio, both with 1.6-liter engine variants.
VW PASSAT
SAMACO, exclusive Volkswagen (VW) dealer in the Kingdom, launched the new VW Passat CC in Jeddah this week. The sporty, dynamic car represents a new segment in the automobile industry combining the rationality of a saloon and the emotional appeal of a sports coupe, described as a first for the motoring world. Mohammad Raffa, COO of SAMACO said: “The Passat CC is our first VW launch in 2009 in the Saudi market. The year will also witness the launch of the legendary Volkswagen Scirocco and the sixth generation of the iconic Golf. Both will be introduced in the first quarter of this year. At SAMACO, we look forward to an eventful 2009 and the continuation of our success in sales as well as after-sales service for VW in Saudi Arabia.” Fathy Allam, VW Middle East regional sales manager, said: “The Passat CC is a true recognition of style, dynamism and performance, which can easily be distinguished once the driver sits behind the wheel.”
DEUTSCHE BANK
Deutsche Bank has announced the appointment of Salman Al-Khalifa as head of Global Markets for MENA region and Hussein Hassan as head of structuring MENA and Islamic Finance at Deutsche Bank. Salman Al-Khalifa is a Bahraini citizen and was previously head of global markets sales for MENA at Deutsche Bank. In his new role he will report to Yassine Bouhara, global head of structuring and head of global markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Hussein Hassan is a Kenyan citizen of Yemeni origin and was previously head of Islamic structuring at Deutsche Bank. In his new role he will report to Al-Khalifa in the region and Daniel Morley, head of emerging markets structuring at Deutsche Bank in London. “These two appointments demonstrate our commitment to investing in this business and to developing the best local talent in the region,” said Bouhara. Henry Azzam, Deutsche Bank’s CEO in the MENA region, said: “Deutsche Bank has witnessed tremendous growth in the region over the last few years, and has firmly established for itself a leadership position in regional markets. We believe that the new appointments will further strengthen our offering and our regional franchise.”
DANA GAS
Dana Gas, described as the Middle East’s first and largest regional private-sector natural gas company, is moving ahead with plans for the exploration and development of the Western Offshore concession in Sharjah. This follows the signing of a 25-year concession agreement between Dana Gas and the government of Sharjah in March 2008, giving the firm a 50 percent working interest in the project. The agreement covers a total offshore area of over 1,000 sq km and includes the Zora gas field in Sharjah, which was discovered in 1979. Under the agreement, the work program carried out by Dana Gas will include the drilling of 3,000 feet of horizontal section in each of the two wells originally drilled by Crescent Petroleum, testing and completing both wells, the installation of offshore platform for immediate processing and production, and the transportation of the processed gas via 25 km of offshore pipeline. The agreement also provides for important exploration works within the concession area, including geological evaluation studies, followed by seismic surveys and the drilling of exploration wells. According to Ahmed Rashid Al-Arbeed, executive director of upstream at Dana Gas, preparations for work on the concession area are well underway, and reservoir-related studies on the Zora gas field have already been carried out.