Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala to invest €1bn in French state-backed fund

Mubadala Investment Company is the wholly owned investment vehicle of the government of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. (Reuters)

• State-backed investment bank Bpifrance and Mubadala will both commit €1bn to the fund to support French companies
• Bpifrance has said it aims over time to raise up to €10bn for the fund, which is to be used to shore up the capital of French companies

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala Investment Company will invest €1 billion ($1.08 billion) in a new French state-backed fund to support French companies, France’s finance minister said on Monday.
State-backed investment bank Bpifrance and Mubadala will both commit €1bn to the fund which will launch next month, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. Additional commitments from institutional investors such as insurers will bring the total invested to four billion, he said.
“The first foreign sovereign investment fund to invest in the French fund is Abu Dhabi’s,” Le Maire told reporters during a visit to Abu Dhabi.
“It’s sends a strong signal that Abu Dhabi’s fund is investing €1bn.”
Bpifrance has said it aims over time to raise up to €10bn for the fund, which is to be used to shore up the capital of French companies facing activist investor campaigns or adapting their business models or shareholder bases.
Bpifrance’s pitch on the fund to outside investors has said it would deploy capital in about 15 companies with a time horizon of 10 years.
Mubadala said in a statement that it saw “significant investment opportunities” in France and said that the fund would invest in companies with “compelling returns.”