Apollo nears stake purchase in Mubadala Capital as Abu Dhabi ties deepen

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Apollo nears Mubadala stake deal

Highlights

Apollo is nearing a stake purchase in Mubadala Capital, expanding on a multibillion-dollar partnership established and extended since 2022.
In 2023, Apollo and Mubadala Capital formed a $2.5 billion joint venture to co-invest in global private credit over five years.
Mubadala Capital, overseeing $755 billion in assets, aims to grow its $60 billion alternatives business and reinforce Abu Dhabi as a global financial hub.

Strategic expansion in Abu Dhabi

As first reported by CNBC, the proposed investment links Apollo more closely with Mubadala Capital, the alternative asset management unit of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company. People familiar with the matter say the deal builds on a relationship that Apollo has cultivated in the emirate for roughly 15 years through ties with state investment institutions and senior leadership.

Apollo already has a multibillion-dollar partnership with Mubadala Investment Company that was first established in 2022 and extended two years later. At the time of that extension, Apollo says the arrangement would strengthen its Capital Solutions platform by helping the firms jointly source and provide customized debt and equity financing to companies around the world.

In 2023, the two institutions also formed a $2.5 billion joint venture focused on co-investing in global private credit opportunities over a five-year period. That track record, together with close cooperation between Apollo Asset Management co-president John Zito and Mubadala Capital CEO Hani Barhoush, appears to have set the stage for broader ties.

Implications for Mubadala Capital and regional finance

Mubadala Capital stands out as the region's only large-scale asset manager, advising and administering more than $755 billion in assets. A stake sale to Apollo would support its growth strategy under Barhoush and underline its ambition to expand its profile on the global investment stage.

The deal also marks a notable point for Mubadala Capital's alternatives business, which has grown to more than $60 billion. For Apollo, the investment signals that Abu Dhabi is becoming more than a source of capital, with U.S. firms increasingly committing money directly into Middle Eastern investment platforms and long-term regional strategies.

Mubadala Capital's international footprint already includes offices in London, New York, Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco. A transaction of this kind would reinforce Abu Dhabi's role as a global financial hub and could further reshape how large U.S. asset managers engage with sovereign-backed investors in the region.

Our earlier coverage of the WTO’s outlook on Middle East trade disruptions explained how escalating conflicts and tariffs are forcing companies to redesign supply chains and shipping routes, with some shifts likely to persist even after hostilities ease. We noted the WTO’s forecast for a sharp regional trade contraction and its view that businesses are prioritizing resilience through diversification, even at higher cost.

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