Riyadh / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said on Monday it is creating a 4 billion riyal ($1.07 billion) ‘fund of funds’ to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The special fund will aim to boost SMEs’ access to capital by investing in venture capital and private equity funds, according to a PIF statement. The …

Bloomberg Sasol Ltd., the world’s largest maker of fuel from coal, abandoned a plan to sell about 13 billion rand ($950 million ) of shares to meet its obligation to repay debt owed by a black investor group. A decline in the company’s stock since the mid-2014 slump in crude prices precluded payouts to more than 250,000 black South Africans …

Bloomberg For years, investors have played Popeye to the energy industry’s Wimpy, the cartoon character famous for his “I’ll gladly pay you for a hamburger today” motto. In return for the promise of future profits, they’ve funded loss-making energy producers and explorers through a generous mix of loans, bonds and equity. That may be changing, according to a chorus of …