What happened
Apollo Global Management is moving to acquire nearly a 10% interest in Mubadala Capital, which sits inside Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth vehicle Mubadala Investment Co., say people familiar with the talks. Both companies' spokespeople would not comment.
At 11:10 AM EDT, a market quote for Apollo Global Management, Inc. showed 116.43, up 3.60 or 3.19%.
Why it matters to both sides
The deal extends Apollo's long push in Abu Dhabi, a market often tagged as the capital of capital. Over the past 15 years, the firm has forged strategic relationships with the state's main investing entity and top leadership, and this move would further that presence by putting direct capital into the country.
It also layers onto a multibillion-dollar partnership with Mubadala Investment Co. that began in 2022 and was extended two years ago. At that extension, Apollo said the collaboration would bolster its Capital Solutions platform by letting the firms jointly source and deliver custom financing - both debt and equity - to companies worldwide. In 2023, the pair launched a $2.5 billion joint venture to co-invest in global private credit over five years. As one person familiar with the agreement put it, "Capital as a moat is a big thing."
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The bigger industry shift
This is part of a broader reset in how American investment firms interact with the Middle East. Abu Dhabi has long been a source of funding, but this deal runs the other direction, as Apollo puts a sizable direct stake into the country and backs its investment vision. Apollo has done similar platform deals with Diameter Capital, Thoreau and Motive Partners.
For Mubadala Capital, which operates internationally from London, New York, Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco, the stake aligns with a growth plan led by CEO Hani Barhoush. The firm's core alternatives business now tops $60 billion.
What it means for your portfolio
Scale is the through-line. Apollo and Mubadala Investment Co. already share capital and deal pipelines, and a stake in Mubadala Capital tightens that link. People familiar with the matter said John Zito, co-president of Apollo's Asset Management division, and Barhoush have collaborated closely for years, and both their track record and the view that bigger platforms have an edge pushed talks forward.
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