Apollo Closes In on Near-10% Slice of Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital

Apollo Global Management is putting the finishing touches on a deal to buy nearly a 10% stake in Mubadala Capital, the alternative asset management subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. An announcement is expected later Monday morning. The two firms' spokespeople declined to comment, and the price wasn't immediately known.

The buy marks another step in Apollo's long courtship of Abu Dhabi, a city often dubbed the 'capital of capital.' The New York investing giant has spent roughly 15 years building relationships there with the country's investment arm and its leadership. Now it's not just raising money from the Gulf — it's writing a check into it.

The two sides already run deep. Apollo and Mubadala Investment Company launched a multibillion-dollar partnership in 2022 and extended it two years ago, a tie-up Apollo said would sharpen its Capital Solutions platform by letting the firms jointly source debt and equity financing for companies worldwide. In 2023 they stood up a $2.5 billion joint venture aimed at co-investing in global private credit over a five-year horizon.

For Mubadala Capital, the region's only large-scale asset manager, the deal feeds a growth push under CEO Hani Barhoush and boosts its profile on the global stage. The firm advises and administers more than $755 billion in assets, with its core alternatives business swelling past $60 billion. It keeps offices in London, New York, Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco.

Personal chemistry helped grease the talks. John Zito, co-president of Apollo's asset management arm, and Barhoush have worked closely for years, and sources say that relationship — plus the track record of earlier partnerships — pushed both sides toward something bigger. So did a shared hunch that size matters more than ever in asset management. 'Capital as a moat is a big thing,' one person familiar with the deal said.

The transaction also signals a reversal in how American investment firms treat the Middle East. The region has long been a prized source of capital, but here Apollo is the one making a significant direct investment in Abu Dhabi's investment vision. Apollo has struck similar minority deals with other asset management platforms, including Diameter Capital, Thoreau and Motive Partners.