Saudi Arabian Wealth Fund Takes 50% Stake in Alabbar’s Adeptio

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is deepening ties with Dubai-based businessman Mohamed Alabbar by taking a 50 percent stake in his Adeptio investment vehicle.

The acquisition is part of the Public Investment Fund’s strategy to boost non-oil investments, according to a statement late Monday, which didn’t give financial details of the transaction. Adeptio is working on a takeover of fast food restaurant operator Kuwait Food Co., also known as Americana, and is set to begin a mandatory tender offer for the company’s shares after acquiring a 67 percent stake.

The PIF, as the fund is known, also contributed half of the $1 billion to create e-commerce firm Noon earlier this



month. Noon is part of Alabbar’s plan to build regional technology and e-commerce focused businesses. The businessman made his name as chairman and the public face of Dubai’s Emaar Properties PJSC, which is responsible for buildings including the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.

Saudi Arabia unveiled plans to transform the PIF from a domestically focused investment firm into a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund earlier this year as the country seeks to reduce its dependence on energy. Since then, the fund has announced a $3.5 billion investment in taxi-hailing app Uber Technologies Inc and said it may put up to $45 billion into a $100 billion global technology fund formed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.