Mubadala Capital Chases ‘Complexity’ Post Clear Channel Deal
(Bloomberg) — Mubadala Capital is taking a more aggressive stance on deal-making, entering into complex transactions that private equity giants shy away from and participating in multibillion-dollar acquisitions that many other independent investors generally avoid.
The alternative asset management arm of wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. agreed this week to buy billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., pledging to commit $3 billion in new equity capital to the business. A senior executive said the fund will continue to seek such transactions.
“We look for large, complex deals where we can unlock complexity and create alpha for our investors,” Chief Investment Officer Oscar Fahlgren said in an interview. “The Clear Channel deal is a good example of that, and you’ll continue to see us look at similar situations in the future.”
The value of the agreement to Clear Channel was determined as $6.2 billion, including debts. Although the firm has been hampered by high debt levels of more than $5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, it boasts stable and attractive assets.
For Mubadala Capital, the acquisition exemplifies the kind of deal that distinguishes itself from both its parent company and the $1 trillion Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. While these funds often participate in minority investments, Mubadala Capital took a different approach.
In late 2024, he brought out his elephant gun and acquired Canadian investment fund manager CI Financial Corp., making one of the largest privatizations ever by an Abu Dhabi entity in the financial sector. This comes just a few months after the completion of the acquisition of Fortress Investment Group.
“The complexity of transactions for most large buyout funds today is not an ideal scenario,” Fahlgren said. “We embrace complexity and dive deep into these types of situations to create long-term value. This sets us apart.”
Mubadala Capital manages, advises and administers more than $430 billion in assets. It is overseen by former Merrill Lynch banker Hani Barhoush, who has run the fund since its inception and is also head of Mubadala Investment’s credit and special situations platform.
In total, the fund has a team of more than 200 professionals spread across offices in Abu Dhabi, New York, London, San Francisco and Rio de Janeiro.
Founded in 2011, Mubadala Capital is among a number of Abu Dhabi entities that collectively oversee assets worth nearly $2 trillion, a landscape that has seen radical changes in recent times.
L’imad Holding Co., chaired by Emirati crown prince Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed, bought wealth fund ADQ last month, while Abu Dhabi’s largest publicly traded company, International Holding Co., launched a new financial services holding company on Friday that oversees about 870 billion dirhams ($237 billion).
Over the years, Mubadala Capital has made a number of moves to help differentiate itself from the city’s dominant wealth apparatus. The fund pioneered the idea of managing external capital for global institutional investors; this approach has since been adopted by others in Abu Dhabi. And he twice sold parts of himself to outside investors; This is a rare occurrence among sovereign investors.
The most recent such deal came last year, when investment firm TWG, led by Guggenheim Partners founder Mark Walter and financier Thomas Tull, bought a stake. The two are partners in the Clear Channel deal.
“In a way, we like to think of ourselves as specialized generalists,” Fahlgren said. “We are not seeking auction processes and do not think that purchasing assets from other buyout firms in the market will create value in the long term.”
“We look for opportunities in areas where others haven’t played as much,” he added.
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(Updates paragraph 11 to add details of new Abu Dhabi units.)
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