Abu Dhabi‘s state-owned oil company is mulling plans to buy the energy assets of state-owned investment fund Mubadala Investment Co., people familiar with the matter said, reported by Bloomberg. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. began talks with Mubadala late last year, though talks have stalled in recent months over differences over valuation, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information is confidential.
Adnoc, Mubadala executives keen to close deal
The firms were discussing a deal worth about $10 billion at the time, one of the people said. Talks are likely to resume soon, some of the people said, perhaps after Ramadan ends in March. Executives at Adnoc and Mubadala, as well as executives in Abu Dhabi, are keen to close a deal, they said. No final decisions have been made and the transaction may not go through. Mubadala declined to comment, and Adnoc officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The fund owns gas fields in Thailand and Indonesia, projects in Malaysia and an oil joint venture in Oman. It is also a majority shareholder in Dolphin Energy Ltd., which processes gas from a huge field in Qatar and transports it by pipeline to the UAE. Ownership of the assets would remain with Abu Dhabi after any deal, as the emirate seeks to reorganize state holdings and give businesses a specific industry focus.
Abu Dhabi: Diversifying Capital
Over the past year, the city — the capital of OPEC member the United Arab Emirates — has created new mechanisms to deploy capital across sectors ranging from artificial intelligence to energy. As part of the push, Mubadala, which manages $330 billion in assets, has sought to offload some of the energy portfolio it acquired over the past decade, focusing on healthcare, finance and technology. A successful deal would strengthen Adnoc’s oil and gas strategy. The firm operates large fields in the UAE at home and is moving into related sectors abroad. It has also set up an overseas investment vehicle called XRG PJS and moved its global assets there.