(April 17): Abu Dhabi’s Axight has bought a stake in an Australian alternative asset manager from Brookfield, adding to a flurry of dealmaking by regional entities despite disruptions caused by the Gulf war.
The private equity investment firm is taking a significant minority stake in La Trobe Financial, valuing the firm at about US$2.1 billion. Brookfield will continue to be a majority shareholder following the transaction that’s expected to close around the third quarter.
Axight is the Asia-Pacific focused unit of Abu Dhabi’s US$115 billion asset manager Lunate, and was set up last year with the goal of increasing its exposure to that region. The La Trobe deal gives it a slice of an alternatives firm with US$16.3 billion of assets under management.
The business added US$2.1 billion in assets under management during the last 12 months, Shiv Gupta, head of Australia for Brookfield’s private equity group said in a statement. “With structural tailwinds — including an ageing population, growing superannuation balances and an estimated US$5.3 trillion in household financial assets — the opportunity ahead is significant,” he said.
Lunate is one of Abu Dhabi’s newest investing giants. Set up less than three years ago, the firm has already emerged as a prolific deal maker, striking partnerships with Wall Street heavyweights and placing bets on the likes of OpenAI.
The latest deal further deepens ties between the oil-rich region and Brookfield, which is among the biggest foreign investors in the Middle East. Chief executive officer Bruce Flatt flew to Abu Dhabi last week to meet Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed, who also oversees an investing behemoth.
See also: Jardine and CK Hutchison in supermarket merger talks: FT
Brookfield has shown a continuing appetite for dealmaking in the Gulf and is among firms considering buying a stake in Kuwait Petroleum Corp’s pipeline network. Regional investors, too, have been active.
Abu Dhabi’s Emirates International Investment Co is buying a minority stake in Joe & the Juice at a valuation of US$1.8 billion, Bloomberg News reported this week. And a unit of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s conglomerate has bought a majority stake in Richard Caring’s hospitality empire, which includes some of the UK’s most iconic brands such as the Ivy restaurants chain and private members’ club Annabel’s.
In recent weeks, Qatar Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Co joined Whoop Inc’s latest funding round, while Savvy Games Group, a unit of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, agreed to buy Moonton from ByteDance. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has also been active, while the QIA and a Bahraini aluminum producer announced large transactions in the first week of the conflict.
Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy
