major investment company Apollo Global Management It is finalizing a deal to acquire a nearly 10% stake in Mubadala Capital, the alternative asset management subsidiary of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The deal is expected to be announced late Monday morning. Financial terms were not immediately available.
This deal is important on many fronts. It further advances Apollo’s ambitions in Abu Dhabi, also known as the “capital of capitals.” The firm has spent the past 15 years building key strategic relationships with the country’s investment sector and core leadership.
Apollo already has a multibillion-dollar partnership with Mubadala Investment Company, first established in 2022 and extended two years ago. At the time of the extension, Apollo said the agreement strengthens the company’s capital solutions platform by enabling the two companies to jointly raise and provide customized debt and equity financing to companies around the world.
In 2023, the two institutions established a $2.5 billion joint venture to co-invest in global private credit opportunities over five years.
Specifically for Mubadala Capital, the only large-scale asset manager in the region advising and managing over $755 billion in assets, the transaction further advances its growth strategy under the direction of CEO Hani Barhoush and increases its relevance on the global investment stage. This is also a turning point for the company’s core substitutes business, which has grown to more than $60 billion.
Apollo Global Management since the beginning of the year
John Zito, co-president of Apollo’s wealth management division, and Barfouche have worked closely together over the past several years, and people familiar with the matter said their close relationship and the success of previous collaborations led to talks of deepening the relationship. So is the idea that the scale of your wealth management business matters more than ever.
“Using capital as a moat is a big deal,” said one person familiar with the deal.
Importantly, this agreement continues a significant shift in the relationship between US investment companies and the Middle East. The region, and Abu Dhabi in particular, has long been a popular source of capital, but this deal further reverses that dynamic, with Apollo making a significant direct investment into the country and its investment vision.
Mubadala Capital’s international offices include London, New York, Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco.
Apollo’s investment in Mubadala Capital is similar to deals the firm has made with other asset management platforms including Diameter Capital, Solow, Motive Partners and others.
Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment.
