Alpha Dhabi lifts MICAD commitment to $1 billion

Alpha Dhabi Holding has doubled its capital commitment to the Mubadala Capital-managed MICAD Credit joint venture to $1 billion and raised its ownership stake to 40 per cent from 20 per cent, expanding its exposure to global private credit.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed investment group said the revised partnership agreement also broadens MICAD Credit JV’s mandate beyond its existing US and European direct-lending activities. The venture will be able to pursue additional private credit strategies available through Mubadala Capital’s long-standing relationships with investment partners and market participants.

MICAD Credit JV currently manages about $1.7 billion in assets across 45 portfolio companies, according to Alpha Dhabi. The expanded commitment therefore increases Alpha Dhabi’s share of a platform that has moved beyond its original direct-lending focus as private credit becomes a larger component of the group’s investment portfolio.

Hamad Salem Al Ameri, managing director and group chief executive of Alpha Dhabi Holding, said the expanded partnership reflected the company’s conviction in private credit as a strategic pillar of its portfolio.

“Doubling our commitment and broadening our mandate is a deliberate step — one that positions us to access a wider universe of high-quality global opportunities,” Al Ameri said. He added that the venture’s $1.7 billion of assets across 45 companies provided a strong platform for further deployment.

Omar Eraiqat, president and chief investment officer for Credit and Solutions at Mubadala Capital, said the revised arrangement reflected the partners’ approach to building investment platforms with institutional investors. Mubadala Capital would remain focused on expanding access to differentiated private credit opportunities through its investment capabilities and long-term relationships, he said.

MICAD was established in 2023 as a joint venture between Alpha Dhabi and Mubadala Investment Company, with Alpha Dhabi initially holding 20 per cent. The platform was created to invest in global credit opportunities and drew on Mubadala’s strategic relationship with Apollo, the alternative asset manager, to source and deploy capital.

By March 2025, the partners said the venture had built an approximately $1 billion global credit portfolio, marking progress towards a previously stated plan to deploy as much as $2.5 billion by 2028. At that stage, the vehicle remained 80 per cent owned by Mubadala and 20 per cent by Alpha Dhabi.

The venture also expanded its European exposure in 2025 when a joint venture entity of Alpha Dhabi and Mubadala acquired a European direct-lending portfolio managed by Apollo. Alpha Dhabi’s annual report said Apollo continued to manage and grow that portfolio after the completed acquisition.

The ownership change announced on Monday substantially alters that split, with Alpha Dhabi taking 40 per cent under the amended agreement. The company did not disclose whether the increase involved a purchase of an existing interest from Mubadala or another restructuring of the venture’s equity, beyond stating the revised ownership percentage and capital commitment.

The widened mandate gives MICAD greater latitude to allocate capital across private credit strategies while retaining direct lending in the United States and Europe. Private credit generally involves loans negotiated outside traditional public bond markets and bank lending channels, with institutional asset managers supplying financing directly to companies or through specialised credit vehicles.

For Alpha Dhabi, the transaction comes against a strong balance-sheet backdrop. The group reported revenue of AED37.6 billion for the first half of 2026, up 5 per cent from a year earlier, while net profit increased 48 per cent to AED9.8 billion. Total assets stood at AED230 billion at the end of June, compared with AED214 billion at the end of 2025.

Alpha Dhabi, which has interests spanning real estate, construction, industrial businesses, services and investments, has been using partnerships and capital deployment to broaden its portfolio. Its 2025 results showed full-year revenue of AED78.8 billion and net profit of AED15 billion, while investment and acquisition activity during that year totalled AED5.5 billion.