Judan invests 50.1% stake in Alpha Wave to boost AI exposure

IHC’s Judan snatches a majority stake in OpenAI investor: Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC)’s recently established USD 237 bn financial services holding company Judan is bagging a 50.1% stake in alternative asset manager Alpha Wave Global, according to a statement.

What we know: Alpha Wave will continue to lead under its CEO Rick Gerson (LinkedIn) while collaborating with Judan to boost the rollout of its AI-native life ins. business. The details of the financial transaction were not disclosed.

Alpha Wave? The firm has USD 29 bn in assets under management (AUM) and holds stakes in major international AI names like OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic. It has been involved with some Emirati heavyweights for quite some time. Back in 2022, it launched a USD 2 bn private credit fund with Chimera Capital and set up the Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners JV with Mubadala Capital.

The bigger picture

IHC established the investment powerhouse last month to increase the firm’s exposure to diversified financial services and attract third-party and institutional capital. The move brought together over 20 financial services firms with upwards of AED 870 bn in AUM between them, and came within Abu Dhabi’s broader investment reshuffle that merges smaller funds into large-scale investment vehicles.

One consolidation after another: In February, Abu Dhabi’s ADQ was absorbed into L’Imad, a newer sovereign investment firm chaired by Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan with reportedly as much as USD 500 bn in AUM. Last year also saw IHC make a consolidation play, merging its subsidiaries Multiply Group, 2PointZero, and Ghitha Holding into an AED 120 bn powerhouse.