Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) is set to buy a $1 billion stake in a US data analytics software company Qlik. This is the latest deal in a string of Gulf purchases from buyout groups.
Thoma Bravo, a US buyout group which specialises in software businesses, acquired Qlik for $3 billion in 2016 and is to sell a stake to Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund.
According to the Financial Times, the deal will value Qlik at about $10 billion.
Qlik, based in Pennsylvania, provides businesses with data integration, tracking and management software.
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Its sales are on track to reach $1.5 billion this year and sources told the FT that bookings for its software subscriptions are up 30 per cent year on year.
The deal is part of a trend in which funds such as Adia – which has assets under management of $993 billion – are growing in importance as sources of financing for takeovers and stake acquisitions. Private equity investment has slowed because of high interest rates and difficulties exiting.
In recent months Adia has backed Advent International’s purchase of a stake in US wealth manager Fisher Investments, Blackstone’s $14 billion acquisition of a climate technology business from engineering group Emerson and KKR’s €22 billion ($23 billion) acquisition of Telecom Italia’s fixed-line phone and internet network.
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, which manages $302 billion in assets, announced in September that it would participate in a $25 billion programme of private credit direct lending initially aimed at the North American market. The venture is being launched by Citigroup and alternative asset manager Apollo.
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