ABU DHABI, UAE: Alpha Dhabi Holding and Mubadala Investment Company announced the formation of a joint venture to co-invest in global credit opportunities.

Alpha Dhabi and Mubadala aim to collectively deploy up to AED 9 billion (approximately US $2.5 billion) over the next five years, leveraging Mubadala’s long-term and strategic partnership with Apollo (NYSE: APO), one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers, to access high-quality private credit investment opportunities.

Mubadala will hold 80% ownership in the Abu Dhabi Global Market-based joint venture entity, with the remaining 20% to be held by Alpha Dhabi.

Commenting on the announcement, Hamad Salem Al Ameri, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Alpha Dhabi, said: “We have continued to assess the private credit market asset class recently with a keen interest, particularly given the current global market environment. We are proud to partner with Mubadala and Apollo – both of which are renowned in this space – to address the global market need for alternative forms of liquidity and credit.

The asset class provides further diversification to our portfolio and attractive risk adjusted returns.”

Hani Barhoush, CEO of Disruptive Investments at Mubadala, added: “We are excited to form this partnership with Alpha Dhabi at a time when global private credit markets are entering a period of significant growth.

By leveraging our strong existing relationship with Apollo, and combining Mubadala and Alpha Dhabi’s investment expertise and capital, we have created a powerful platform to access investment opportunities around the world while driving synergies across Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem.”

“At Apollo, we believe this is an attractive time to deploy capital across private credit markets and are excited to continue building our relationships with Mubadala and Alpha Dhabi, coming together at a time when private markets are prime for investment against a backdrop of broader public market stress.” said Craig Farr, Apollo Partner and Head of Apollo Capital Solutions.

Allocations to the private credit asset class have continued to gain traction and increase regionally and are seen as a route to generate strong returns while providing effective downside protection.

This is particularly pertinent in the context of the current operating macroenvironment with rising interest rates and inflationary pressures. Private credit investments are well placed to perform across market cycles, despite the current uncertain and volatile global capital markets landscape.