Mubadala commits $1bn to Blue Owl Capital’s credit platform

Image courtesy: Didier Marti/ Getty Images

Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) has allotted $1bn to Blue Owl Capital’s credit platform under a strategic partnership between the Abu Dhabi wealth fund and the US-based alternative investment manager.

The duo said the investment will initially focus on its technology lending strategy, which provides financing solutions for a broad range of technology and software companies.

“Private credit has become an integral part of the financing solutions available to support corporate growth and there is an increasing demand for debt capital from well-established and high-growth software and technology businesses,” said Fabrizio Bocciardi, head of Credit Investments at Mubadala.

“Blue Owl is well-positioned to capitalise on both current and future opportunities.”

Today, we announce a new partnership with @BlueOwlCapital, the New York-based alternative asset manager, by committing $1 billion to their technology lending platform, which provides financing solutions for a broad range of technology and software companies. pic.twitter.com/xk0F2W8IcZ

— Mubadala (@Mubadala) September 11, 2023

Private equity funds are increasingly competing with banks, including for financing large company buyouts, a trend that intensified following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year.

Mubadala’s growing global footprint

Meanwhile, Mubadala has been investing in private debt opportunities through its credit investment and its investment in Blue Owl Capital builds on the state investor’s growing presence in the Americas.

The state investor and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management joined forces to jointly invest $500m in US-based broadband service company Brightspeed in May. The investment gave Mubadala a minority shareholding in Brightspeed alongside investment funds managed by affiliates of Apollo.

The sovereign fund invested in Aligned Data Centers, a pan-America data centre company based in the US in August. Aligned Data Centers offers both scale data centres (colocation) and build-to-scale (build-to-suit) solutions to support global hyperscale and enterprise customers, helping to meet the demand for sustainable and scalable infrastructure.

The fund reported more than Dhs1tn ($276bn) in assets under management in 2022, similar to the year before, and said it outperformed market benchmarks. Last year, it deployed Dhs107bn, including in life sciences, renewable energy and digital infrastructure.

The wealth fund reported proceeds of Dhs106bn including from sales of stakes in Borealis, mining company Minas de Aguas Teñidas and its remaining shares in Glencore, “to support capital recycling into high-potential investment areas”.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala co-leads Hasten Biopharma’s $315m funding round