A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)

Global private markets investor EQT, which manages $389 billion in assets, has launched its Middle East platform and opened an office at ADGM, establishing its first on-the-ground presence in the GCC.

The Abu Dhabi office will serve as a strategic base as the Swedish-founded investment group builds its presence across GCC markets, supports existing portfolio companies in the region and pursues new investments, EQT said in a statement.

Founded in Sweden in 1994, EQT is ranked as the world's second-largest private equity firm by funds raised over the past five years, according to PEI 300, 2025.

It currently has more than 330 portfolio companies, which together employ over 550,000 people. Its global network includes more than 600 industrial advisers, according to an EQT factsheet.

The group has €341 billion ($389 billion) in total assets under management, including €186 billion in fee-generating assets under management, and operates across four business segments — Private Capital, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Secondaries.

With the addition of Abu Dhabi, EQT now has offices in more than 25 countries that together account for more than 80% of global GDP.

The Middle East platform initially brings together Private Capital and Infrastructure investment professionals, alongside capital-raising and business operations teams. It will also draw on the group's Real Estate and Secondaries businesses as opportunities develop.

EQT said its investment philosophy is based on thematic investing and active ownership, with investment strategies covering businesses from early-stage ventures through mid-cap and large-cap buyouts and mature companies.

EQT has significant exposure to the region through its portfolio companies. More than 40 EQT portfolio companies have an operating presence in the Middle East, according to the factsheet.

Among them is Nord Anglia Education, which operates schools across the GCC, including four schools in the UAE. Its UAE presence includes schools in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where it has partnered with Dubai Holding to develop premium K-12 schools.

Another portfolio company, Virtusa, provides digital engineering, cloud and technology services to businesses across several GCC markets.

Banking Circle, a financial infrastructure platform providing real-time payment services, is licensed in ADGM to operate from Abu Dhabi, while consumer technology company Nothing has a regional office and local team supporting its GCC operations.

Water services company SAUR also operates across the region, including through a UAE office and a major wastewater public-private partnership in Ras Al Khaimah.

EQT said some of its portfolio companies have operated in the region for more than a decade. The establishment of the regional platform would allow the group to work more closely with those companies as well as support other portfolio businesses seeking to expand into GCC markets.

The company said ADGM's regulatory framework, institutional environment and global connectivity were among the factors behind its decision to establish the regional base in Abu Dhabi.

“Abu Dhabi is a place where EQT has had the privilege of developing close ties over the past three decades with senior leaders at the largest regional investors,” Jean Eric Salata, Chair of EQT Group, said.

“We are now deepening our commitment to the GCC by putting dedicated people and resources on the ground, operating as One EQT and bringing together those relationships and our investment experience in the region with the breadth of our global capabilities,” he added.

EQT's Middle East platform is led by Jimmy Mahtani, who has been appointed Chairman of GCC alongside his role as Chairman of India and Southeast Asia for EQT Private Capital.

The Abu Dhabi office is headed by Smiyet Belrhiti, Head of Middle East and Senior Executive Officer, who has more than two decades of experience in private equity, corporate development and investment across the GCC and wider Middle East and North Africa.

Per Franzén, CEO and Managing Partner of EQT, said the group saw opportunities both to support its existing portfolio companies and to invest in new businesses in sectors undergoing structural change and attracting long-term capital.

“The launch of EQT's Middle East platform reflects our conviction in the scale and momentum of opportunity across the GCC,” Franzén said. “We believe EQT's global sector expertise and company-building capabilities can contribute meaningfully to the GCC's long-term economic development.”

Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM, said Abu Dhabi was attracting major global investment institutions and long-term capital.

“This momentum reflects the strength of our economy and the confidence global investors place in Abu Dhabi as a gateway to opportunities across the region and beyond,” Al Zaabi said.

Belrhiti said EQT was seeing a growing pool of companies in the Middle East operating in sectors central to its long-term investment strategies.

“EQT's presence here reflects our conviction in the region's potential to produce globally significant companies over the next decade,” he said.