Abu Dhabi-based global alternative investment management company Lunate has acquired a 40 per cent stake in Adnoc Oil Pipelines (AOP) from BlackRock and KKR.
The acquisition, made by one of Lunate's funds, was executed through the purchase of a 100 per cent stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) jointly held by the two institutional investors' managed funds, Lunate said on Wednesday.
“We are pleased to partner with Adnoc, [which] continues to raise the bar for innovation and efficiency in global energy markets,” said Murtaza Hussain, managing partner at Lunate.
“Lunate’s investment in AOP aligns with our long-term capital strategy to identify and invest in premium infrastructure assets.”
Adnoc Oil Pipelines was set up in 2019 to lease ownership interests in 22 pipelines from Adnoc for 23 years through a concession agreement.
The pipelines include 17 onshore and five offshore pipelines across the region, covering 806km with a total capacity of 18 million barrels per day.
The stake acquisition comes nearly five years after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, as well as global private equity firm KKR paid $4 billion upfront through a SPV to invest in Adnoc’s pipeline assets.
The deal signalled the first investment by international financial institutions in the infrastructure of a state-owned energy company in the Gulf region.
With $105 billion in assets under management, Lunate was launched by Chimera Investment, an Abu Dhabi-based private organisation, in September last year.
The company, based at the Abu Dhabi Global Market, has interests in private equity, venture capital, private credit, real assets, public equities and public credit markets.
In November, Lunate and US-based investment bank BNY Mellon announced an investment of $300 million in Alpheya, an ADGM-based wealth technology company.
Global investment firms are increasingly prioritising environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment decisions, prompting some of them to divest from oil and gas companies, and invest in renewable energy projects and energy transition initiatives.
BlackRock, for instance, is among the institutional investors backing the UAE’s $30 billion climate fund called Alterra, which aims to raise $250 billion globally in the next six years.
In December, BlackRock announced an investment of up to $400 million in Dubai-based decarbonisation company Positive Zero through a diversified infrastructure fund.
Adnoc, which is responsible for nearly all of the UAE’s oil and gas production, initiated the highest number of new low-carbon projects among both international and national oil companies, according to an Energy Intelligence report in February.
This comes amid a sharp decline in low-carbon spending in the global oil and gas sector last year, as energy majors focused on profitability and meeting the demand for fossil fuels.
In January, Adnoc’s board increased the company’s allocation for decarbonisation projects and technologies, and lower-carbon solutions to $23 billion from $15 billion previously.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
More on Quran memorisation:
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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