BRISBANE, Australia - Monday, January 25th 2016 [ME NewsWire] (BUSINESS WIRE)-- Retail Food Group (RFG) (ASX: RFG), Australia’s largest multi-food franchisor, has entered 2016 on a high with the commissioning of its 2,500th outlet. RFG is the global franchisor for brands including Donut King, Brumby’s Bakery, Michel’s Patisserie, Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar, Gloria Jean’s Coffees and Cafe2U. The Company celebrated its milestone with the opening of Michel’s Patisserie & Café in Maitland, New South Wales in late December. RFG CEO Franchise Andre Nell said the Company’s continued network expansion was being driven by high demand for innovative retail concepts in the Australian market, as well as strong international growth. “We are focussed on enhancing the customer experience and driving franchisee success across all of our Brand Systems, both domestically and internationally,” said Mr Nell. The new Michel’s Patisserie & Café outlet in Maitland is just the 10th of its kind, featuring a ... Read more »

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Sunday, January 24th 2016 [ME NewsWire] Jumeirah Group, the global hotel company and a member of Dubai Holding, has signed an agreement with Select Group to manage 508 properties within Marina Gate, their flagship residential development at the gateway to Dubai Marina. Jumeirah Group will bring its luxury hospitality experience to the third and final tower within the Marina Gate development under its Jumeirah Living brand. The design-led luxurious living destination will include 104 serviced apartments, 389 branded residences and 15 villas and will offer an exclusive range of facilities and amenities including a temperature controlled infinity pool, a dual-level gymnasium, residents’ lounge and business centre. Prominently positioned, Marina Gate residents will benefit from excellent transportation network links, being within walking distance to the tram, metro and water taxis. Gerald Lawless, President and Group CEO, Jumeirah Group, said: “We are del ... Read more »

The first press conference in 2016 takes place in Cairo Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Sunday, January 24th 2016 [ME NewsWire] The 2016 edition of the Arab Region’s most sought after annual awards was officially introduced in a press launch in Cairo, Egypt. In a new move, the Arabia CSR Awards 2016 first public launch was held outside the United Arab Emirates, and in a North African country. The objective was to expand the reach of the awards across the Middle East and North Africa, with a particular emphasis on recognizing CSR and sustainability good practice in the North Africa region. The launch was organized by the Arabia CSR Network, in collaboration with Cairo-based Country Partner, Terous. The awards are held, for the third consecutive year, under the auspices of the League of Arab States, supported by the UN Global Compact, and in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme. During the launch, the Arabia CSR Network and Terous came together to officially sign a m ... Read more »

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Wednesday, January 20th 2016 [ME NewsWire] 2015 has proven to be rather disappointing in terms of M&A activity targeting companies based in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Deal values have declined against an increase in volume year-on-year, according to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. In total some USD 30,595 million was invested in 2015, representing an 11 per cent drop on the USD 34,529 million injected in 2014 and the second consecutive annual decline. Despite the decline in value during 2015, volume increased by 26 per cent from 521 deals in 2014 to 657. This represents the second highest yearly volume of the last six years, proving that there is an appetite for deals in the region. This is backed up by the fact that a number of large deals were announced, with five transactions worth USD 1,000 million or more agreed in 2015. The largest deal targeting the MENA region was an asset sale by OCI worth USD 8,000 million. ... Read more »

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Wednesday, January 20th 2016 [ME NewsWire] 2015 has proven to be rather disappointing in terms of M&A activity targeting companies based in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Deal values have declined against an increase in volume year-on-year, according to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. In total some USD 30,595 million was invested in 2015, representing an 11 per cent drop on the USD 34,529 million injected in 2014 and the second consecutive annual decline. Despite the decline in value during 2015, volume increased by 26 per cent from 521 deals in 2014 to 657. This represents the second highest yearly volume of the last six years, proving that there is an appetite for deals in the region. This is backed up by the fact that a number of large deals were announced, with five transactions worth USD 1,000 million or more agreed in 2015. The largest deal targeting the MENA region was an asset sale by OCI worth USD 8,000 million. ... Read more »

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Sunday, January 24th 2016 [ME NewsWire] Arzan Wealth (DIFC) Limited (‘Arzan Wealth’), a Dubai-based advisory firm regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, is pleased to announce that it has advised on the acquisition of a newly built multitenant retail asset (“the Property”) on the high street of the town of Crawley, just outside London in the UK. The Property is fully leased to a diverse mix of high-quality retailers under long term leases. Completed in 2014 and designed to energy efficient and BREEAM “very good” standards, the Property comprises of a 75,240 sq.ft. Morrisons supermarket, a 110-room purpose built hotel leased to Travelodge, two small retail units and 506 car parking spaces. The Property, which is 35 miles away from Central London and three miles south of Britain’s second largest airport – Gatwick, benefits from very long leases to major tenants, high quality new construction and a prime, high street location. Arzan Wealth a ... Read more »

Via Social Networking Sites ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Tuesday, January 19th 2016 [ME NewsWire] The hashtag #Wba’den_Wayak (#Come_On) has witnessed significant public interaction from thousands of individuals via the Ministry of Interior’s various accounts on social media Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google +. The Security Media Department at the Security Support Directorate General, the General Secretariat of the Office of H.H Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, had recently launched an awareness initiative using the hashtag #Wba’den_Wayak (#Come_On) through social networking sites. The initiative is inspired by bad behaviors and daily traffic violations repeatedly committed by individuals and drivers on various internal and external roads, in order to enhance public awareness and traffic safety. First Lieutenant Fatima Al Shehhi, Director of the Social Media Center at the Security Media Department, noted that the hashtag was trending on Twitter an ... Read more »

LONDON - Thursday, January 21st 2016 [ME NewsWire] In its mission to bring transformative change in the education landscape through technology, ITWORX Education, a leading education services and software solutions provider, and a division of Cairo-based ITWORX, backed by EuroMena, has announced the launch of WinjiGo, its latest groundbreaking proprietary e-learning platform at BETT 2016, the leading Ed-tech exhibition and conference in the EMEA region being held in London from January 20 to January 23. WinjiGo, an online platform, enables an unlimited learning experience for individuals across the globe. Designed as an immersive and interactive learning experience, the platform is equipped with a set of rich features including course planning, a gamified learning experience for formative and summative assessment, self-assessment, social communities, and virtual classrooms. It integrates with Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage services for file accessibility anywhere in the world. Teac ... Read more »