Abu Dhabi-listed companies International Holding Company and Alpha Dhabi will invest a combined $50 million in aerospace company SpaceX, founded by billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
IHC, which already has stake in SpaceX, will invest $25m, while Alpha Dhabi — a subsidiary of IHC — will make a debut investment of $25m in the California-based company.
“We are pleased to announce that IHC has decided to increase the investment in SpaceX through IHC West Investment — sole proprietorship [a subsidiary of the company] for a value of $25 million,” IHC said in a statement on Tuesday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), where its shares are traded.
“The management is currently working on the completion of all necessary procedures subject to obtaining regulatory approvals,” it said.
Alpha Dhabi confirmed the investment in SpaceX through Alpha Dhabi Partners Holding, according to a regulatory filing with the ADX on Wednesday.
The deal remains subject to regulatory approval and is part of the company's focus on supporting innovation, it said.
IHC first acquired a stake in SpaceX in the second half of 2020 through private equity fund Falcon CI IV. The Abu Dhabi company bought a 94 per cent stake in the Cayman Island-based fund, which has invested in SpaceX.
In February last year, the aerospace company said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it had completed an equity funding round of $850m, increasing its valuation to roughly $74 billion.
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. One of the company's ultimate goals is to colonise Mars.
It is going head-to-head with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, which have both launched flights to space with their founders on board.
SpaceX also operates Starlink, a global satellite constellation service that provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet.
IHC, majority-owned by Abu Dhabi's PAL group of companies, has steadily expanded its portfolio by acquiring businesses in emerging technologies, real estate and health care among others. At the end of March it included more than 30 entities, with a portfolio of 323 subsidiaries.
It is included in the FTSE ADX 15 Index, which represents the top 15 largest and most liquid companies on the ADX.
Earlier this month, it bought a 25 per cent stake in Dubai-based trading company Invictus through one of its subsidiaries.
Last month, it completed a deal to invest Dh7.3bn ($1.94bn) in the Indian business conglomerate Adani Group, which is led by billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani.
IHC also made a number of new investments last year, including acquiring a controlling stake in Abu Dhabi-based investment company Al Qudra Holding and a 60 per cent stake in Afkar Financial and Property Investments.
In April last year, it completed a 45 per cent stake purchase in Alpha Dhabi Holding and acquired a 40 per cent stake in Response Plus Medical Services, which is a unit of VPS Healthcare, for an undisclosed sum.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
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- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
6 UNDERGROUND
Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco
2.5 / 5 stars
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATCH INFO
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Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
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The Ashes
Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
Semi-final fixtures
Portugal v Chile, 7pm, today
Germany v Mexico, 7pm, tomorrow
