UAE Accounts for 80.9% of GCC M&A Deal Value in H1 2026: USD 52.6 Billion (AED 193.2 Billion) of USD 65.1 Billion and 131 of 192 Deals, Led by DAE’s USD 9 Billion Macquarie AirFinance Acquisition (Grant Thornton)

2026-09-06

The UAE accounted for 80.9% of the disclosed value of mergers and acquisitions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the first half of 2026: about USD 52.6 billion (AED 193.2 billion) out of a regional total of USD 65.1 billion (AED 239.1 billion), according to the UAE and GCC M&A Market Review published by Grant Thornton and reported by Aletihad on Sunday 6 September 2026. Total disclosed GCC deal value rose 12.1% from USD 58 billion in the first half of 2025, even though the number of transactions fell 17.9% from 234 to 192. The UAE was also the region’s busiest market by count, with 131 of the 192 deals, or 68.2%. The largest UAE transactions of the period were Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s USD 9.0 billion (AED 33.1 billion) acquisition of Macquarie AirFinance, AD Ports Group’s increase of its stake in Global Feeder Shipping to 81%, Mubadala Capital’s offer of about USD 1.1 billion (AED 4.0 billion) for the French leisure group Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs, and e&’s sale of 12.5% of Careem Technologies to Uber for AED 367.3 million. This article sets out the figures, the four transactions behind them, the sectors that attracted strategic capital, what has happened since 30 June, and what the numbers mean for a company that operates in the UAE or plans to open one here.

H1 2026 in numbers: USD 65.1 billion for the GCC, USD 52.6 billion for the UAE

Grant Thornton is one of the large international audit and advisory networks; its UAE member firm publishes a periodic review of M&A activity across the six GCC states, counting completed transactions and the values disclosed by the parties. The review for the first half of 2026 puts total disclosed deal value at USD 65.1 billion, 12.1% more than the USD 58 billion of the first half of 2025. The UAE contributed approximately USD 52.6 billion, or 80.9% of the total, which leaves about USD 12.5 billion (AED 45.9 billion) for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain together. By number of deals the UAE share was 68.2%: 131 of the 192 transactions completed in the region, against 61 in the other five states. The review does not publish a country-by-country split of the remaining value; the largest transaction outside the UAE that it names is the USD 7.4 billion take-private of the asset manager Janus Henderson, in which the Qatar Investment Authority participated alongside Trian Fund Management and General Catalyst, completed on 30 June 2026.

Source: Grant Thornton, UAE and GCC M&A Market Review for H1 2026, as reported by Aletihad on 6 September 2026 and by Consultancy Middle East on 4 September 2026. AED amounts are converted at the dirham’s fixed rate of 3.6725 to the US dollar.

Fewer deals, larger cheques

The two headline figures move in opposite directions, and the review explains why. Volume fell because buyers became more selective: the first quarter of 2026 saw the number of transactions drop by around 30% year on year, and June was the only month of the half-year with growth, at 42 deals against 38 in June 2025. Value rose because the deals that did close were larger and more often involved control. Acquisitions, in which the buyer takes a majority or the whole of the target, accounted for 64.1% of GCC deal volume, while minority investments made up roughly 21%; the review notes that investors favoured opportunities offering scale, control and long-term value creation. Grant Thornton partner Neha Julka summarised the period as one in which valuation resilience in the UAE was “increasingly being underpinned by fundamentals rather than sentiment”, and Salmaan Khawaja, the firm’s partner and head of deals, described the UAE deal environment as “positive but also selective and measured”. The review attributes the UAE’s resilience to strong liquidity, economic fundamentals and continued investor confidence, and it notes that UAE companies used acquisitions to expand existing platforms, diversify earnings and enter selected growth markets, with activity concentrated on controlling stakes.

The four UAE transactions that shaped the half-year

DAE and Macquarie AirFinance. The Dubai-based aircraft lessor announced the purchase of Macquarie AirFinance in February 2026 and completed it on 29 July 2026 at an enterprise value of USD 9.0 billion, the largest transaction in the review. According to DAE’s own announcement of the closing, the combined company has around 1,000 owned, managed and committed aircraft serving more than 175 airlines in over 75 countries, holds commitments for roughly 150 new aircraft from Boeing, Airbus, ATR and trading counterparties with deliveries extending into the 2030s, and ranks as the world’s third-largest aircraft lessor by fleet value and by the number of owned and managed aircraft. Chief executive Firoz Tarapore called the closing “another milestone” in a track record of transformational acquisitions; A&O Shearman and KPMG advised DAE.

AD Ports Group and Global Feeder Shipping. On 24 June 2026 the Abu Dhabi ports and logistics group announced that it would buy a further 30% of Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) for USD 300 million (AED 1.1 billion), taking its holding from 51% to 81%. The first 51% was acquired in February 2024 at an enterprise value of AED 3.67 billion, and the 2026 tranche was priced at the same valuation and funded through a mix of debt and asset monetisation. GFS is the world’s fourth-largest container feeder line by capacity: in 2025 it carried 2.8 million TEU on more than 700 voyages across 89 ports in 54 countries, and it has generated more than AED 1.8 billion of cumulative EBITDA since AD Ports first invested. In the second half of the year AD Ports itself became a target: on 17 August 2026 its majority shareholder L’imad moved to buy out the remaining shares at AED 6.25 each.

Mubadala Capital and Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs. Mubadala Capital, the alternative asset manager of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, announced a fully financed, binding all-cash offer for the French group on 22 June 2026, three days after the target’s board had unanimously welcomed it. The price is EUR 1.90 per ordinary share including an extraordinary distribution of EUR 0.11, or EUR 1.79 after that distribution, with a further EUR 0.10 per share if Mubadala Capital reaches the squeeze-out threshold and delists the company. The offer values the group at around EUR 1 billion, which Aletihad reports as about USD 1.1 billion. On 17 July 2026 the parties signed a tender offer agreement after shareholders holding 80.13% of the capital committed to tender, including Fidera with 26.72% and Benefit Street Partners with 24.96%. The filing of the public offer is expected by the first quarter of 2027 and completion in the first half of 2027, subject to antitrust and foreign investment clearances and to a shareholder vote on the distribution planned for around 30 September 2026. Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs operates more than 45,000 apartments, houses and villas at about 330 destinations in Europe under the Pierre & Vacances, Center Parcs, Adagio and maeva brands, hosts nearly 8 million guests a year and reported revenue of EUR 1,946 million for its 2024/25 financial year.

e&, Careem and Uber. On 1 June 2026 the UAE telecoms group e& signed a binding agreement to sell 12.5% of Careem Technologies to Uber for USD 100 million in cash, or AED 367.3 million, reducing its stake from 50.03% to 37.53% while remaining a significant shareholder. The two sides also agreed reciprocal options over e&’s remaining shares: e& may require Uber to buy them and Uber may require e& to sell them, in both cases during a window from 1 December 2031 to 31 January 2032. After completion e& will account for Careem under the equity method. The transaction is one of the smaller ones in the review by value, but it is the kind of minority-to-majority rebalancing that made up about a fifth of regional volume.

Where the strategic money went

The review lists the sectors that attracted strategic investment in the UAE during the half-year: infrastructure and utilities, healthcare, consumer and food and beverage, logistics and industrials, and technology and digital platforms. It names AD Ports Group, International Holding Company and L’imad among the active acquirers and observes that UAE companies concentrated on controlling stakes. For the second half of 2026 Grant Thornton expects dealmaking to remain selective, with strategic and sovereign-backed capital supporting activity, large transactions continuing to contribute most of the value, particularly in infrastructure, energy, real estate and industrial assets, and regional and UAE serial acquirers staying active where a deal supports cross-border expansion, capability building and long-term growth. The firm cites low inflation, ample liquidity and continued non-oil growth in the UAE as the conditions behind that outlook, and singles out technology, healthcare, infrastructure and logistics as the sectors buyers are most likely to pursue.

The two months since 30 June have followed the pattern. In August L’imad, the Abu Dhabi holding company, launched the buyout of AD Ports Group and completed a 100% buyout of the energy utility TAQA, which is now leaving the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. At the end of August 2026 Abu Dhabi’s ePointZero agreed to acquire 90% of Azura Power, an African power producer with 752 MW of capacity. The acquirers’ balance sheets support the pace: Kamco Invest counted USD 21.6 billion of net profit for UAE listed companies in the second quarter of 2026, up 28.6% year on year, with part of Abu Dhabi’s increase coming from gains on investment disposals by International Holding Company and 2PointZero.

What the numbers mean for a business in the UAE

• Merger control now applies to deals with a UAE nexus. The transactions in the review closed under the old rules, but since 30 July 2026 the UAE has a mandatory, suspensory merger control regime under Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2026: a transaction must be notified to the Ministry of Economy when the parties’ combined annual sales in the relevant UAE market exceed AED 300 million or their combined market share exceeds 40%, the filing is due at least 90 days before completion, and closing without clearance carries a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 500,000. The details are in our guide to the UAE merger control regime.
• Buying a company is a licensing event, not only a financial one. A change of shareholders in a mainland or free zone company requires an amendment of the licence and the memorandum of association, updated establishment cards and, where the buyer is a foreign entity, attested corporate documents of the acquirer. Buyers that plan to consolidate several UAE assets usually set up a holding company first; see our company setup service.
• Deal proceeds and acquisition vehicles need a bank account. UAE banks apply full KYC to a newly formed holding or special purpose vehicle before it can receive funds, and the file includes the licence, the ownership chart up to the individual owners, the source of funds and the transaction documents. The process is described in our bank account opening service.
• Management after the deal needs visas. Directors and managers a buyer places in an acquired UAE company need residence visas and work permits sponsored by that company; see work visas and residency.
• Sellers should be diligence-ready. A UAE merger control filing requires three years of audited financial statements and an economic report on the market, and buyers in the review favoured targets with visible cash flows. Up-to-date audits, corporate tax registration and a clean register of shareholders shorten the time from term sheet to closing.
• Foreign buyers can hold 100%. Since the 2021 reform of the Commercial Companies Law, foreign investors may own 100% of most mainland companies, and free zone companies have always allowed full foreign ownership, so an acquisition does not require a local partner in most sectors.

How Atlant Capital can help

Atlant Capital registers companies on the mainland and in the UAE free zones, including holding companies and acquisition vehicles, selects the jurisdiction and the activity list for trading, services, consulting, technology and investment businesses and prepares the licence documents (company setup). We open corporate accounts with UAE banks and prepare the file a bank expects from a new company or a special purpose vehicle (bank account opening), and we handle work visas and residency for owners, directors and staff (work visa and residency). Accounting, audit, VAT and corporate tax filing are provided by licensed accounting firms from our partner network.

Conclusion

Grant Thornton’s review of the first half of 2026 shows a GCC deal market that closed fewer transactions than a year earlier, 192 against 234, but at a higher disclosed value, USD 65.1 billion against USD 58 billion. The UAE supplied 80.9% of that value, about USD 52.6 billion (AED 193.2 billion), and 131 of the 192 deals. Four transactions explain most of the picture: DAE’s USD 9.0 billion purchase of Macquarie AirFinance, completed on 29 July 2026; AD Ports Group’s USD 300 million move to 81% of Global Feeder Shipping; Mubadala Capital’s offer of around EUR 1 billion for Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs; and e&’s AED 367.3 million sale of 12.5% of Careem to Uber. The second half has started in the same key, with L’imad’s buyouts of AD Ports and TAQA and ePointZero’s purchase of 90% of Azura Power. For a company doing business in the UAE, the practical changes are the merger control regime in force since 30 July 2026, the licensing and banking steps that accompany any change of ownership, and the value that buyers place on audited, well-documented targets.

FAQ

What share of GCC M&A deal value did the UAE account for in the first half of 2026?

According to Grant Thornton’s UAE and GCC M&A Market Review, the UAE accounted for 80.9% of the disclosed value of M&A transactions in the GCC in the first half of 2026: approximately USD 52.6 billion (AED 193.2 billion) out of USD 65.1 billion. By number of transactions the UAE share was 68.2%, or 131 of the 192 deals completed in the region.

Did M&A activity in the Gulf grow or shrink in the first half of 2026?

Both, depending on the measure. Disclosed deal value rose 12.1% to USD 65.1 billion from USD 58 billion in the first half of 2025, while the number of completed transactions fell 17.9% from 234 to 192. Acquisitions of majority or full control made up 64.1% of deal volume and minority investments about 21%, and the first quarter of 2026 saw volumes fall by around 30% before June recorded 42 deals against 38 a year earlier.

What were the largest UAE M&A deals of the first half of 2026?

The largest was Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s acquisition of Macquarie AirFinance at an enterprise value of USD 9.0 billion, announced in February and completed on 29 July 2026. Others named in the review are AD Ports Group’s purchase of a further 30% of Global Feeder Shipping for USD 300 million, raising its stake to 81%; Mubadala Capital’s offer of EUR 1.90 per share, about EUR 1 billion or USD 1.1 billion, for Pierre & Vacances-Center Parcs; and e&’s sale of 12.5% of Careem Technologies to Uber for USD 100 million, or AED 367.3 million.

Does a company buying a business in the UAE need regulatory approval?

Since 30 July 2026, yes, if the deal meets the thresholds of the UAE merger control regime under Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2026: combined annual sales of the parties in the relevant UAE market above AED 300 million, or a combined market share above 40%. Such a transaction must be notified to the Ministry of Economy at least 90 days before completion and cannot close before clearance; closing without it carries a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 500,000. Smaller deals still require the licensing authority to register the change of shareholders and amend the licence.