Abu Dhabi’s Multiply Group buys a stake in Breakwater Energy for $100 million

The company continues to grow its portfolio with new investments globally

Samia Bouazza, group chief executive of Multiply Group. A subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, it continues to expand its portfolio. Photo: Multiply Group

Abu Dhabi’s Multiply Group has bought a minority stake in Breakwater Energy for Dh367 million ($100 million) to increase its global portfolio.

Breakwater Energy is a unit of EIG, a top institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors. It acquired a 25 per cent interest in Spain's Repsol E&P, a gas-weighted exploration and production company comprising Repsol’s entire global upstream oil and gas business for $4.8 billion including debt in March.

Repsol’s globally diversified portfolio of upstream assets comprises more than 550,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of production and operations in 15 countries. Repsol plans to use the proceeds of this transaction to expand its low-carbon platforms around the world, Multiply Group said on Wednesday in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

Repsol and EIG also foresee the potential to list the business in the US from 2026 onward, subject to favourable market conditions.

“The minority stake in Repsol E&P through EIG’s Breakwater Energy is a good fit for our Multiply+ portfolio, which identifies attractive dividend-paying investments with mid-to-short term horizon,” said Samia Bouazza, group chief executive and managing director at Multiply Group.

“Repsol’s management has a strong, proven track record and EIG is one of the world’s leading energy investors, which provides us confidence in their collective ability to deliver on Breakwater Energy’s ambitious plans.”

Multiply Group is well-positioned to continue exploring high-value acquisition opportunities and “Repsol’s plans to utilise this investment to fuel low carbon energy projects makes this transaction particularly interesting for us”, she added.

The latest deal comes as Multiply, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, continues to expand its portfolio.

The company has been investing across its two units: Multiply and Multiply+.

Multiply operates and invests in four markets, including mobility, energy and utilities, media and communications, and beauty and wellness. Multiply+, its sector-agnostic investment arm, is seeking double-digit returns across several asset classes.

Multiply's investments include stakes in businesses such as Emirates Driving Company, Viola Communications, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, better known as Taqa, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Borouge and Getty Images.

Last year, it invested Dh92 million in Rihanna’s intimate apparel venture Savage X Fenty. It also bought 80 per cent of shares in IHC subsidiary International Energy Holding in October.

Earlier this year, the company also submitted a binding offer to buy a 55 per cent stake in Dubai-based outdoor advertising company Media247 for Dh184 million.

Multiply was added to the S&P UAE BMI Liquid 20/35 Capped Index and S&P UAE Shariah Liquid 35/20 Capped Index in the third quarter of last year.

The indices measure the performance of the S&P UAE BMI and the most liquid and Sharia-compliant stocks in the UAE, respectively.

Multiply has a strong cash flow position with over Dh1.2 billion, healthy debt to equity and debt to assets parameters and access to more than Dh4 billion in financing capacity, it said.

The company expects more “value accretive acquisition opportunities” to emerge globally across its operating verticals and investment arm as it continues to focus on boosting its portfolio.

Multiply aims to double its net profit this year from companies where it has a controlling stake, excluding fair value gains or losses, as it explores the possibility of listing some divisions, Ms Bouazza told The National earlier this year.