{"id":114542,"date":"2026-03-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?p=114542"},"modified":"2026-03-27T02:59:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T02:59:45","slug":"blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blackstone writes multi-mn-USD check into Abu Dhabi amid war:<\/strong> Blackstone, the world\u2019s largest alternative asset manager, funneled USD 250 mn into a new Abu Dhabi-based fintech for the gaming industry, according to a press release<\/a>. The move marks the buyout giant\u2019s first inbound private equity investment here at home since the outbreak of the Iran war.<\/p>\n

A unicorn from the get-go:<\/strong> The newly formed business, Advanced Digital Gaming Technology (ADGT), is understood to be valued at around USD 1 bn, according to Bloomberg<\/a>. It was set up under a partnership between Blackstone and Abu Dhabi\u2019s Raya Holding, alongside Las Vegas-based gaming fintechs NRT Technology and Sightline.<\/p>\n

The point of ADGT is to provide<\/strong> the B2B infrastructure that connects a player\u2019s money to a regulated gaming operator.<\/strong> It is currently the only licensed platform in the UAE to be able to contract across both physical venues (like Wynn\u2019s USD 3.9 bn gaming resort<\/a> in Ras Al Khaimah) and online operators.<\/p>\n

The ongoing war has not seemed to deter dealmaking activity \u2014 specifically M&A and investments \u2014 in the UAE just yet<\/strong>, and the likes of Blackstone are doubling down and reaffirming their confidence in the region. \u201cWe see significant opportunity to deploy capital at scale in the UAE to build companies that can grow both domestically and internationally, despite near term headwinds,\u201d Blackstone\u2019s President and COO Jon Gray said. <\/p>\n

Blackstone follows other PE giants like KKR, Carlyle, and Bain<\/strong>, which have shifted from treating the GCC as a source of capital to a place to invest in and build and grow platforms. This is Blackstone\u2019s third major infrastructure play here, following its USD 5 bn logistics platform Glide<\/a> and its stake in Property Finder<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

ADVISORS- <\/strong>Kirkland & Ellis, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and Alaeddini & Co provided counsel to Blackstone, while Morgan Lewis provided counsel to ADGT.<\/p>\n

Zooming out <\/p>\n

The UAE has been making strides on the gaming front for a while now<\/strong>, after issuing its national gaming framework in 2024<\/a>. The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority awarded the UAE\u2019s first lottery license to The Game<\/a>, as well as vendor approvals for TSCHuxley<\/a> and Australia\u2019s Aristocrat<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The newly formed business, Advanced Digital Gaming Technology (ADGT), is understood to be valued at around USD 1 bn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1557],"tags":[2572,7,238,1342,25],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-114542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investment-watch","tag-blackstone","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-gaming","tag-investment","tag-investment-watch","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"6333a30f-23f7-406f-b415-40369fea8ae4","order":"3","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Blackstone still \u2665\ufe0fs the UAE","related_issue":[114537],"teaser":"The newly formed business, Advanced Digital Gaming Technology (ADGT), is understood to be valued at around USD 1 bn"},"yoast_head":"\nBlackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn - UAE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The newly formed business, Advanced Digital Gaming Technology (ADGT), is understood to be valued at around USD 1 bn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UAE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T02:59:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\"},\"headline\":\"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-27T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T02:59:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/\"},\"wordCount\":370,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Blackstone\",\"EnterpriseAM UAE\",\"Gaming\",\"investment\",\"INVESTMENT WATCH\"],\"articleSection\":[\"INVESTMENT WATCH\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/\",\"name\":\"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn - UAE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-27T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T02:59:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"description\":\"The State of the Nation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"caption\":\"UAE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\",\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn - UAE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn","og_description":"The newly formed business, Advanced Digital Gaming Technology (ADGT), is understood to be valued at around USD 1 bn","og_url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/","og_site_name":"UAE","article_published_time":"2026-03-27T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-27T02:59:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"enterpriseam admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"enterpriseam admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/"},"author":{"name":"enterpriseam admin","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d"},"headline":"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn","datePublished":"2026-03-27T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-27T02:59:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/"},"wordCount":370,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","keywords":["Blackstone","EnterpriseAM UAE","Gaming","investment","INVESTMENT WATCH"],"articleSection":["INVESTMENT WATCH"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/","name":"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn - UAE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-03-27T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-27T02:59:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/03\/27\/blackstone-invests-usd-205-mn-in-abu-dhabis-first-gaming-fintech-unicorn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blackstone invests USD 205 mn in Abu Dhabi\u2019s first gaming-fintech unicorn"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","name":"UAE","description":"The State of the Nation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization","name":"UAE","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","caption":"UAE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d","name":"enterpriseam admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com"],"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"enterpriseam admin","author_link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/1335.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114582,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114542\/revisions\/114582"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/114537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114542"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=114542"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=114542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}