KKR opens Abu Dhabi office in deepening foray into Middle East

[LONDON] KKR is opening an office in Abu Dhabi’s financial centre, part of the alternative investment firm’s efforts to bolster its presence in the emirate as it increasingly becomes a magnet for global capital.

The Abu Dhabi office, located in the city’s financial centre known as ADGM, will be led by Julian Barratt-Due, a managing director at KKR who leads the regional investment business, according to a statement. The new office adds to the buyout giant’s existing regional offices in Dubai’s financial hub and Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh.

New York-headquartered KKR has been growing its presence in the Gulf and is among financial sponsors seeking to deploy capital to the region. Earlier this year, it took a stake in one of the Middle East’s largest data centre firms and agreed to invest billions of US dollars to the venture. In October, KKR’s infrastructure unit bought a minority stake in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (Adnoc) gas pipeline network.

KKR appointed former US general David Petraeus as chairman of its Middle East franchise earlier this year and said it was setting up a local investment team dedicated to doing deals in the region.

Other private equity firms have been expanding in the region too, drawn by cash-rich sovereign wealth funds and greater dealmaking opportunities. Brookfield Asset Management, CVC Capital Partners and General Atlantic all have a presence in the Middle East and have been snapping up assets in sectors including education and payments.

KKR has had a presence in the Persian Gulf since 2009. The firm first deployed money in the Middle East in 2019 when it partnered with BlackRock to invest in Adnoc’s oil pipeline network, which was the first time a foreign asset manager invested in the infrastructure of a Gulf state-owned energy company. KKR sold that holding to an Abu Dhabi-based entity last year. BLOOMBERG