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Saudi PIF Considers Bidding for Qatar's Ooredoo Tower Unit

Public Investment Fund (PIF) is considering a final bid for Ooredoo network towers (QNA)
Public Investment Fund (PIF) is considering a final bid for Ooredoo network towers (QNA)
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Saudi PIF Considers Bidding for Qatar's Ooredoo Tower Unit

Public Investment Fund (PIF) is considering a final bid for Ooredoo network towers (QNA)
Public Investment Fund (PIF) is considering a final bid for Ooredoo network towers (QNA)

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is considering a final bid for network towers sold by Qatari telecom firm Ooredoo.

According Bloomberg, informed sources said the PIF expressed its keenness to be among the suitors for the Qatari telecom and submit offers for the final purchase competing with American Tower Corp, IHS Holding, and Helios Towers.

Ooredoo announced its revenues at the end of October amounting to $2.4 billion, a four percent increase compared to last year.

Capital spending during the period amounted to $1.6 billion, while free cash flow increased three percent and reached $800 million, driven in particular by a decrease in capital spending.

Last August, Ooredoo launched its new brand positioning and tagline, "Upgrade Your World," which revolves around enabling human progress, reflecting the company's commitment to improving and never standing still.

In September, the group signed an agreement to sell its Myanmar unit to Singapore vehicle Nine Communications, with an enterprise value of $576 million, subject to the customary closing conditions, including Myanmar regulatory approvals.

Earlier, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently announced that PIF had established five regional companies in Arab countries, with a value of $24 billion, to contribute to supporting innovative initiatives and stimulating the capabilities of regional countries.

Prince Mohammed, the PIF Chairman, announced that the Fund would establish five companies to invest in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Sudan.

The Fund disclosed its plans during the second day of the sixth edition of the Future Investment Initiative recently held in Riyadh, in the presence of a group of investors, innovators, and world leaders.

The companies aim to invest up to $24 billion in opportunities across various key sectors in each market.

The companies will invest in various vital sectors, including but not limited to infrastructure, real estate development, mining, healthcare, financial services, food and agriculture, manufacturing, telecoms, and technology, among other strategic sectors and industries in each country.

The establishment of the five new companies will contribute to an increase in regional investment opportunities for PIF's portfolio companies and Saudi Arabia's private sector, bolstering attractive financial returns over the long term and creating more avenues for strategic economic collaboration with the private sector in the target countries as well as enabling the Saudi private sector.

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Political Turmoil Shakes South Korea’s Economy

Protesters take part in a rally calling for the ouster of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the Gwanghwamun Gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on December 28, 2024. (Yonhap/AFP)
Protesters take part in a rally calling for the ouster of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the Gwanghwamun Gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on December 28, 2024. (Yonhap/AFP)
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Political Turmoil Shakes South Korea’s Economy

Protesters take part in a rally calling for the ouster of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the Gwanghwamun Gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on December 28, 2024. (Yonhap/AFP)
Protesters take part in a rally calling for the ouster of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the Gwanghwamun Gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on December 28, 2024. (Yonhap/AFP)

After South Korea's president and his replacement were both deposed over a failed bid to impose martial law, deepening political turmoil is threatening the country's currency and shaking confidence in its economy.

The won, which plunged Friday to its lowest level against the dollar since 2009, has been in near-constant decline since President Yoon Suk Yeol's attempt to scrap civilian rule in early December.

Business and consumer confidence in Asia's fourth-largest economy have also taken their biggest hit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to figures released by the Bank of Korea.

Lawmakers impeached Yoon in mid-December on charges of insurrection, and on Friday they impeached his successor, acting president and prime minister Han Duck-soo, arguing that he refused demands to complete Yoon's removal from office and bring him to justice.

That thrust Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok into the additional roles of acting president and prime minister.

Choi has pledged to do all he can to end "this period of turmoil" and resolve the political crisis gripping the country.

- Constitutional question -

At the heart of the stalemate is the Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to uphold parliament's decision to impeach Yoon.

It must do so by a two-thirds majority, however. And because three of the court's nine seats are currently vacant, a unanimous vote is required to confirm the suspended president's removal.

Otherwise, Yoon will be automatically returned to office.

Lawmakers on Thursday nominated three judges to fill the vacant seats, but acting president Han refused to approve them, precipitating his own impeachment.

After an acrimonious day in which lawmakers from Yoon's party erupted in protest, the country's newest acting president sought to project calm.

"Although we are facing unexpected challenges once again, we are confident that our robust and resilient economic system will ensure rapid stabilization," Choi said Friday.

The 61-year-old career civil servant has inherited a 2025 budget -- adopted by the opposition alone -- which is 4.1 trillion won ($2.8 billion) less than the government had hoped for.

"There are already signs the crisis is having an impact on the economy," Gareth Leather of Capital Economics wrote in a note to clients, citing the dip in consumer and business confidence.

"The crisis is unfolding against a backdrop of a struggling economy," he added, with GDP growth expected to be just two percent this year, weighed down by a global slowdown in demand for semiconductors.

"Longer term, political polarization and resulting uncertainty could hold back investment in Korea," Leather wrote, citing the example of Thailand, another ultra-polarized country whose economy has stagnated since a coup in 2014.

- Democratic resilience? -

But other economists noted that the South Korean economy has so far weathered the chaos well.

As early as December 4, the day after Yoon declared martial law following a budget tussle with the opposition, the central bank promised to inject sufficient liquidity to stabilize the markets, and the Kospi Index has lost less than four percent since the start of the crisis.

"Like everyone, I was surprised when Yoon took those crazy measures," Park Sang-in, a professor of economics at Seoul National University, told AFP. "But there was a resilience of democracy."

"We come from being an underdeveloped country to one of the world's most dynamic economies in very few years, and Yoon Suk Yeol is a side effect of the growth," he added.

"Korean society was mature enough to counter his crazy actions."