Saudi Aramco 2222 and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden, 1211) signed a shareholders' agreement on Aug. 18 to form a joint venture for mineral exploration and hard-rock mining across Zone-4 of the Arabian Platform, according to company disclosures. The JV will be owned 51% by Maaden and 49% by Aramco, and will focus on copper and other transition minerals over roughly 182,000 square kilometres, or about 10% of the kingdom's land area. Corporate deal flow dominated the week alongside the Aramco-Maaden signing, with PIF-owned Diriyah Co. tapping Arab National Bank 1080 for a SAR 2 billion facility, BinDawood Holding 4161 closing its UAE bakery acquisition, and Cenomi Centers 4321 signing two agreements with Saudi Downtown Co. for the Al Madinah Downtown project. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) closed the final session of the week at 10,954.46 on Aug. 20, up 28.77 points or 0.26% on the session. The index traded between an intraday high of 10,961.29 and a low of 10,909.04, and stands 4.42% higher year-to-date.
Diriyah Co. signs SAR 2B financing with Arab National Bank
PIF-owned Diriyah Co. signed a SAR 2 billion ($533 million) financing agreement with Arab National Bank (anb, 1080), according to a statement carried by Arab News on Aug. 17. Proceeds will fund the development of hotel-branded residences across the Diriyah and Wadi Safar destinations. The agreement marks anb's first financing deal with Diriyah Co., the statement said. The transaction adds to a growing roster of bank facilities extended to Diriyah Co. as construction progresses on the giga-project's core assets. Neither party disclosed the tenor of the facility or the pricing terms in the announcement.
BinDawood completes 51% acquisition of Wonder Bakery
BinDawood Holding 4161 said it completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in UAE-based Wonder Bakery LLC for AED 114.8 million, according to a Tadawul filing dated Aug. 18. The transaction closed after finalizing regulatory ownership-transfer measures, the company said. The final consideration was adjusted upward from the AED 96.9 million agreed when the share purchase agreement was signed in December 2025. BinDawood did not disclose the drivers of the price adjustment in the filing. The acquisition extends BinDawood's food-retail footprint beyond Saudi Arabia and adds a bakery-manufacturing capability to the group.
Cenomi Centers signs two agreements with Saudi Downtown
Arabian Centres Co. (Cenomi Centers, 4321) signed on Aug. 18 two agreements with PIF-owned Saudi Downtown Co. covering the Al Madinah Downtown project, according to a Tadawul disclosure. The agreements comprise a development-services contract for the retail and mall component of the destination, and a 25-year lease-and-operation promise. The value of the development-services contract exceeds 5% of Cenomi Centers' 2025 revenue of SAR 2.28 billion, or approximately SAR 114 million, the company said in the filing. Cenomi did not disclose the total contract value or projected annual lease revenue from the 25-year arrangement.
Retal subsidiary signs SAR 268M design-and-build contract
Retal Urban Development Co. 4322 said its 80%-owned subsidiary, Building and Construction Co., signed a SAR 267.98 million design-and-build contract on Aug. 17 with associate Remal Park Fund for the Remal Business Court project in Al Khobar, according to a Tadawul filing. The 12-month contract is expected to positively impact the company's 2026 and 2027 financial results, Retal said. The disclosure did not detail the phasing of revenue recognition between the two years or the project's gross floor area.
Nofoth to acquire 65% of Plenty Food for up to SAR 56M
Nofoth Food Products Co. 2288 signed a share purchase agreement on Aug. 18 to acquire a 65% stake in Plenty Food Co. LLC for a maximum consideration of SAR 55.95 million, according to a Tadawul filing. The consideration comprises a fixed SAR 52.70 million plus contingent consideration of up to SAR 3.25 million. Plenty Food posted revenue of SAR 52.46 million and net profit of SAR 7.14 million in 2025, per the disclosure. Completion of the transaction remains subject to customary regulatory approvals, Nofoth said.
Outlook
Tadawul-listed companies continue to file second-quarter results and board resolutions in the coming sessions. Investors will track further disclosures on the Aramco-Maaden JV structure, including any capex or timeline guidance, as well as follow-through filings from Cenomi Centers on the Al Madinah Downtown lease-and-operation promise. On the Nomu parallel market, Rawasi Albina Investment Co. shareholders' Aug. 18 EGM vote against authorizing the board to distribute FY2026 interim dividends leaves the parallel-market issuer's distribution policy for the year unchanged. Additional MoU and financing signings from small- and mid-cap issuers, including Al Kuzama's SAR 37 million SAIB 1030 facility and Arabica Star's SAR 15 million SNB 1180 financing, remain in focus for backlog and liquidity signals into the next reporting cycle.
