UAE’s Lunate acquires 40% in ADNOC pipelines

Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based alternative investor, acquired a 40 per cent stake in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s pipeline (ADNOC) assets from BlackRock and KKR, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The transaction, executed through one of Lunate’s funds, involved purchasing full ownership of a special-purpose vehicle jointly held by the two companies.

Specific deal terms were not disclosed, and both BlackRock and KKR refrained from commenting.

In 2019, BlackRock and KKR made headlines by purchasing the stake for $4 billion, marking the first instance of foreign investors acquiring infrastructure assets of a Gulf national oil company.

ADNOC Oil Pipelines, established the same year, oversees the leasing of ADNOC’s interests in 22 pipelines for a 23-year term, transporting crude oil and condensates across ADNOC’s concessions.

These pipelines, covering 806 kilometres and comprising 17 onshore and 5 offshore routes, have a combined capacity of 18 million barrels per day.

Lunate operates within the business empire overseen by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sheikh Tahnoun also chairs the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), managing assets worth $968 billion according to Global SWF, and ADQ, Abu Dhabi’s third-largest wealth fund.

With $105 billion in assets under management, Lunate invests across various private market sectors, including buyouts, growth equity, venture capital, private credit, real assets, and public equities and credit.