Apollo Mubadala Capital stake brings $5bn in commitments

Apollo will take a minority equity stake in Mubadala Capital, the Abu Dhabi alternative asset manager, alongside $5bn of new commitments to its investment strategies, the two firms said on Monday.

The size and value of the Apollo Mubadala Capital stake were not disclosed in the joint statement released on 26 October. CNBC reported that the holding amounts to nearly 10%, a figure that does not appear in the statement.

Apollo will also commit capital across Mubadala Capital’s investment strategies. Other strategic investors will become minority shareholders at the same time, and together with Apollo they are expected to commit an aggregate $5bn at initial close, the statement said.

Mubadala stays in control

Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign investor that Semafor puts at $385bn in assets, remains the majority shareholder. Apollo joins the founders of Silver Rock Financial, an existing equity holder, on the shareholder register.

Silver Rock’s founders became shareholders through a strategic partnership first announced in December 2024 and completed in October 2025, according to an earlier Business Wire release. Semafor said Mubadala Capital has been attracting more outside investors to fund its deal flow.

Mubadala Capital will keep its own governance structure and continue to operate independently, according to the statement. Its existing management team retains full authority over investment decisions and day-to-day operations.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory and legal approvals. Goldman Sachs and Jefferies advised Mubadala Capital, with Skadden as legal counsel, while Morgan Stanley and Paul, Weiss acted for Apollo.

What the Apollo Mubadala Capital stake buys into

Founded in 2011, Mubadala Capital’s core alternatives business manages more than $60bn across five strategies: private equity, special opportunities with a Brazil focus, credit, venture capital, and solutions and co-investment platforms. Including strategic partnerships, the assets it manages, advises or administers exceed $755bn.

The firm employs more than 250 professionals in Abu Dhabi, London, New York, Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco. It was the first sovereign fund to take in third-party capital, according to Semafor, which said it raised a $554m co-investment fund in January.

Apollo, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, had about $1.05 trillion in assets under management as of 30 June 2026. The two groups already work together: their partnership began in 2022 and was extended about two years ago, CNBC reported, and a 2023 joint venture targeted $2.5bn of private credit co-investment over five years.

Hani Barhoush, chief executive of Mubadala Capital, said the partnership would accelerate the firm’s goal of connecting global capital with private market opportunities. He described Apollo as “a trusted partner to Mubadala and across Abu Dhabi for many years”.

John Zito, co-president of Apollo Asset Management, said the investment reflected conviction in Mubadala Capital’s business and could help it reach a broader base of global investors. He said the deal would “deepen our alignment and strengthen our mutual commitment to each other’s success”. Mubadala, he added, had been a partner “in seeding and scaling a number of our strategies over the years”.

Why it matters for Gulf investors

The Apollo Mubadala Capital stake shows that large Wall Street managers still want a direct line into Abu Dhabi capital despite the regional conflict that has weighed on Gulf markets this year. For Mubadala Capital, outside shareholders bring fresh equity and wider distribution while the sovereign parent keeps control.

It also marks a further step in the emirate’s effort to build asset managers that raise money from third parties rather than relying only on state funds. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds together control about $1.8 trillion, according to Semafor. It added that external funds increasingly want to partner with Abu Dhabi firms on dealmaking in areas such as AI and private credit.

Investors will now watch for the identity of the other strategic shareholders and for the first deployments of the $5bn once the transaction closes later this year. Recent data on foreign fund flows across Gulf markets suggests that appetite for exposure to the region remains selective. See more of our banking and financial services coverage.