BlackRock’s GIP, Temasek line up USD 30 bn for infrastructure investments alongside Adnoc and L’Imad

Another major vote of confidence in the GCC: At a time when GCC infrastructure is recovering from a wave of Iranian attacks, two of the world’s biggest investors are teaming up with two Abu Dhabi giants to pledge USD 30 bn in investments across the region’s infrastructure. The pledge follows a wave of major foreign investments in the UAE, specifically, in recent weeks, including from Brookfield, Lockheed Martin, and other asset managers flocking to Abu Dhabi.

The quartet: BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund L’Imad Holding, and Adnoc are teaming up on the fund, which will target investments in energy, transport, logistics, and waste management in the GCC and Central Asia, Bloomberg and Reuters report, citing a statement. It will raise a mix of debt and equity to finance its investments.

Temasek and GIP are global heavyweights: Temasek’s portfolio is valued at around USD 434 bn, while GIP — acquired by BlackRock, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, in 2024 — manages approximately USD 103 bn in assets.

They made sure we know how big a statement this is. “The partnership… reflects continued global investor interest in the UAE and the wider region, as destinations for ⁠long-term capital, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, a growing pipeline of investable [windows] and an increasingly mature investment landscape,” the firms said in the statement.

Opportunities could emerge from the conflict

The overwhelming consensus among foreign investors is that the GCC is still very much investable — and perhaps even more so now. General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford and KKR’s co-head for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Tara Davies, are backing the region through the conflict. Davies said, “it’s a really interesting market for investing at the moment,” referencing a potential surge in greenfield investing in projects aimed at boosting resilient infrastructure across the region, whether through alternative transportation routes and commodity corridors.

Meanwhile, Ford believes local investors’ ongoing investment push is a strong enough signal that the region is still focused on its long-term goals. “The capital providers in the region are still making commitments, they’re still actively engaged with us,” he said, adding that “they’re looking at projects, looking at new investments.”

Case in point is L’Imad’s involvement here. L’Imad is a new Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund that has absorbed all of ADQ’s assets — formerly Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure-focused SWF — and is now focused on investing in infrastructure and real estate, financial services and asset management, advanced industries and technologies, urban mobility, and smart cities. The sovereign wealth fund now manages USD 300 bn worth of assets and is involved in major transactions, including Paramount’s USD 111 bn acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

While there’s been plenty of discussion around how the region’s sovereign wealth funds might repurpose funds during the conflict to support domestic sectors, there’s been no evidence of major repurposing until now. All three Abu Dhabi funds have continued to invest in transactions abroad, spanning strategic sectors like tech and infrastructure.

Background

Meanwhile, Adnoc itself has plenty of investments + expansion projects in the pipeline. It is already lining up bns of USD in investments as it pushes ahead with capacity growth at home and expands its international footprint.

It’s not the first time GIP has teamed up with a heavyweight Abu Dhabi investor. Abu Dhabi AI investor MGX partnered up for a similarly sized USD 30 bn vehicle alongside BlackRock, Microsoft, and Nvidia, named the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership, to deploy capital into AI infrastructure. The platform aims to mobilize some USD 30 bn in equity, potentially reaching USD 100 bn including debt.