Business
Page 2 / 11The latest business news, corporate updates, and market-moving decisions across key industries.
Why I Built Lebanon's First Insurance Vehicle Auction House at 19
AA Group founder Georgio Antypas on replacing closed garage deals with open auctions for total-loss cars.
Georgio Antypas explains how AA Group brings the Copart model to Lebanon: insurers send damaged and salvage cars to its lots, buyers inspect them in person, place a deposit, and bid over two weeks. He argues the open auction gets insurers a better price and lets buyers skip importing unseen cars from abroad.
How to Spot Ecommerce Ad Spend Problems Before They Eat Your Margin
Five warning signs that most ecommerce reports show too late, and what to check when each one appears.
Ad spend rarely fails loudly; it drifts. This guide walks through five warning signs, from CPA creeping above target to campaigns that lean on returning customers, and gives a short weekly routine to catch each one. SouqMetrics is used throughout as the example of how automated monitoring handles the same signals.
Elie Saab Named as H&M's Next Designer Collaborator
The Lebanese couturier's collection with the Swedish retailer lands in stores and online on October 22.
Elie Saab is the next designer to partner with H&M, with a womenswear, menswear, accessories and shoes collection launching on October 22, 2026. The line will be sold in selected H&M stores worldwide and online, including stores across the Gulf and Egypt. The Beirut-founded house joins a list of past H&M collaborators that includes Karl Lagerfeld, Versace and Balmain.
Alfa Adds 93 Network Sites, With 20 More Due Before the End of 2026
Half the new sites run on solar power, and Alfa says the full upgrade will reach 600,000 subscribers by mid-2027.
Alfa has deployed 47 sites in 2025 and 46 so far in 2026, covering Beirut and 23 districts. The new sites already carry 47 terabytes of data a day, about 7 percent of the network's daily internet traffic. Chairman and CEO Rafic El Haddad says the wider modernization project will be finished before the end of the second quarter of 2027.
Dubai Tech Salaries 2026
What developers, data scientists and CTOs are paid in Dubai right now, and what the money is worth.
Robert Walters puts a Dubai software engineer at AED 32,500 a month. GulfTalent says AED 7,000. This guide works through the 2025 and 2026 salary guides role by role and explains why the same job title carries five different numbers. It also covers what a Dubai salary is actually worth after tax rules, rent, school fees and the visa thresholds at AED 15,000 and AED 30,000.
Beirut to Brooklyn: Blank Street Now Worth $650 Million
Lebanese co-founder Issam Freiha started with one coffee cart in 2020. The chain just raised $105 million.
Blank Street, the small-format coffee chain co-founded by Lebanese entrepreneur Issam Freiha, closed a $105 million equity deal led by General Atlantic in August 2026 at a valuation of roughly $650 million. The company now operates 106 stores across the United States and the United Kingdom, six years after starting as a single cart in Brooklyn. Its first Los Angeles shop opened in August, with Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Malibu next.
Yahya Khaled and the Business of Restoring Rare Classics in Beirut
Yahya Khaled restores Porsches, Jaguars and Maseratis for Lebanese collectors from a base in the capital.
Lebanese restoration specialist Yahya Khaled works on rare vintage automobiles for private collectors in Beirut, including a 1972 Porsche 911T, a 1961 Jaguar E-Type, a 1961 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL and a 1982 Maserati Merak. The article looks at how classic car restoration works in Lebanon and why parts, sourcing and originality drive the value of each car.
Creator Summit Returns to Casino du Liban on September 11 and 12
The second edition runs September 11 and 12 at Casino du Liban.
Lebanon's Creator Summit expands to two days for its second edition, held at the Theatre Casino du Liban in Jounieh on September 11 and 12, 2026. TikTok LIVE is platform partner, with the Lebanese American University and Enmaeya also attached. Passes range from $25 for exhibition access to $500 for a capped Founders tier.
Thirty Years of Pianos in Byblos: Inside Basbous & Sons
Pierre Basbous opened with three pianos in 1995. Today his Byblos house is Lebanon's only French-certified atelier.
Pierre Basbous was a touring pianist before he became a dealer, and in 1995 he opened Basbous & Sons in Byblos with three instruments and a refusal to sell anything cheap. The house now runs the largest piano showroom in Lebanon and the country's only French-certified restoration atelier. In 2026 it launched a free registry open to every piano in Lebanon.
Zero to Sixty Has Shipped Over 80 Cars to Lebanese Individuals as Demand Surges
Founded in Jounieh in 2024, Elias Ziadeh's company buys at U.S. auctions for individual buyers, not dealerships.
Zero to Sixty is a Lebanese automotive import company that buys vehicles at United States auctions for individual buyers and delivers them to their door. Founder Elias Ziadeh started it in 2024 after his own imports went wrong, and the company has shipped more than 80 cars in 2026 alone. Its WhatsApp community passed 3,000 members within three months.
CMA CGM Closes Fattal Acquisition, Nearing 4,000 Staff in Lebanon
CEVA Logistics has completed the purchase of the 1897-founded Lebanese distributor after regulatory clearance.
The CMA CGM Group has completed its purchase of Fattal Group through its subsidiary CEVA Logistics, almost four months after the two sides announced the agreement. Fattal, founded in 1897 and operating in 10 countries, distributes consumer goods and electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and beauty and fashion products across MENA. The transaction takes CMA CGM's Lebanese workforce to nearly 4,000 people.
50 mg of Caffeine in One Piece of Gum: ChewCare Launches Goom
Beirut company ChewCare is launching Goom, a caffeine and L-theanine gum built for energy on the move.
ChewCare, a Lebanese functional consumer-products company, is launching Goom, a mint-flavoured chewing gum that carries caffeine, L-theanine, ginseng, and B and D vitamins. Founder Sadecc Choucaire designed it for professionals, students, athletes, gamers, and drivers who want a boost without brewing coffee or carrying a can. Goom launches first in Lebanon, with plans to move into Gulf and regional markets.
