Eurazeo, a European asset manager with €40 billion ($45.2 billion) in assets under management, has opened an office in Abu Dhabi's ADGM as the Paris-listed group looks to strengthen its presence in the region.
The new office in Abu Dhabi’s financial centre will serve as a hub for the group’s activities across the Middle East, the company said in a statement on Thursday. It will be led by Adrien Pinelli, managing director in investor relations.
The move is expected to open up new opportunities for investors from the region to invest in Europe's mid-market companies.
Eurazeo has built strong ties with sovereign institutions, family offices and institutional investors across the region, while supporting a number of portfolio companies in their expansion into some of the world's fastest-growing economies.
"The opening of our Abu Dhabi office reflects both the growing importance of the Gulf for Eurazeo, and our confidence in the region's long-term trajectory," said Christophe Baviere and William Kadouch-Chassaing, co-chief executives of Eurazeo.
ADGM has continued to attract global institutions despite the Iran war. The latest one to open its ADGM office was the global private markets firm Pantheon. The London firm, with about $84 billion in assets under management, opened the office on Tuesday.
The UAE capital has in recent months attracted high-profile companies such as private credit lender Blue Owl Capital, the tech-focused US private equity company Vista Equity Partners, Man Group, the world’s largest listed hedge fund, Barings, Bain Capital, Cantor and the Swiss derivative investment company Adapt Investment Managers.
Collectively, asset managers that established operations in ADGM in the first half of the year oversee more than $2.1 trillion in global assets under management, the statement said.
The number of fund and asset managers based in ADGM reached 190, up 23 per cent annually, with 11 managers added in the second quarter. Meanwhile, funds at the hub increased by 32 per cent year-on-year to 276 in the January-to-June period.
"Eurazeo’s presence will further deepen investment links between the Gulf and Europe, while contributing valuable expertise, partnerships and opportunities to our dynamic financial ecosystem," Arvind Ramamurthy, chief market development officer of ADGM, said.
Eurazeo supports more than 650 mid-market companies, with a workforce of 450. It has 16 offices across Europe, Asia and the US, according to the statement.
