Ryan Grim reports:

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are undertaking a sweeping review of American investments, driven by a combination of commercial necessity and political recalibration driven by the Iran war, according to sources familiar with deliberations around the high-level financing deals.

In particular, the planned merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Brothers Discovery, made possible as a result of Gulf financing, is getting a new look. A postponed meeting of the board of the Qatar Investment Authority will reconvene within the next week as the fund recalibrates its investment approach, a source with knowledge of the deliberations said. “Even from a purely, purely numbers perspective, you have to look at this again,” said the industry source, asking for anonymity to speak freely about investment matters rarely discussed publicly.

No announcement from the meeting is expected, the source said, as the Qataris are unwilling to unilaterally back out of the deal without Saudi Arabia also doing so. Withdrawing from the deal would be seen as a political shot against both Israel and the United States, which Qatar feels it can not undertake alone under the current circumstances. [Continue reading…]