Mubadala to sell 50 per cent stake in terminal operator to Abu Dhabi Ports

Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi strategic company with over $200 billion in assets, and Mubadala Infrastructure Partners agreed to sell their 50 per cent stake in Abu Dhabi Terminals to the remaining shareholder, Abu Dhabi Ports, for an undisclosed sum.

“Our strategic investment in ADT is a demonstration of our continued commitment to growing and developing core industry sectors in Abu Dhabi,” Khaled Al Qubaisi, Mubadala’s chief executive officer of aerospace, renewables and ICT, said in a statement yesterday.

“We are confident ADT will see even greater success as it starts its next chapter, while retaining its important role in Abu Dhabi’s economy.”

ADT operates and manages the $7bn Khalifa Port Container Terminal under a 30-year concession that was signed in 2012.

Abu Dhabi Ports has been expanding operations at Khalifa Port and adjacent Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) over the last few years.

Container volumes at Khalifa Port in 2019 are expected to double the 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units handled in 2017 once China’s Cosco Shipping Ports completes construction of its $700m container terminal at the facility.

Cosco, which signed a 35year concession agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports in 2016, broke ground on the terminal in February.

Last year, Abu Dhabi Ports signed a 50-year agreement with the Chinese Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Co-operation and Investment Company.

Under the agreement, JOCIC will develop around 7.2m square metres of Kizad for companies from Jiangsu Province.

“We are committed to continuing ADT’s growth and attracting more shipping lines to use Khalifa Port as their main hub port, consolidating its central role in Abu Dhabi’s port system and economy,” said Mohamed Al Shamsi, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Ports.