Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment working with A.T. Kearney on portfolio review

The global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney is assisting Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Mubadala Investment Company with a review of its post-merger assets, according to emerging reports.

The Mubadala Investment Company, which with $125 billion in managed assets became the world’s 14th largest wealth fund following its merger with the International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) last year, will undertake a review of its amalgamated portfolio with the assistance of A.T. Kearney, reports have stated, citing unmanned sources familiar with the matter. Fellow management consulting firm Bain & Company had advised on the earlier merger.

Options will include asset sales and possible mergers within the portfolio, yet the sources stress that the review is only at present in its preliminary stage, and that any final decisions on the potential sale or retention of assets are yet to be made. Some of the assets reportedly under the microscope include chemical producers Borealis AG and Nova Chemicals, along with Japanese refining firm Cosmo Oil. 

It’s believed discussions have already been held with advisers on Mubadala’s 17.8% stake in RHB Bank, Malaysia’s fourth-largest lender, with the possible sale among the options on the table. The approximately $920 million holding is considered peripheral to the sovereign fund’s core activities, according to various sources, and it is believed that they’ve long wished to offload their share.

While both parties remain cagey on the portfolio review and A.T. Kearney’s support role, Brian Lott, Head of Communications for Mubadala, has been quoted as saying; “As a global investment company, we are continually looking for ways to improve our businesses.” He goes on to add; “That may mean significant expansion, as we have done in the energy sector already this year, or bringing in new partners, which we have also done”.

Generating revenues upwards of $1 billion, A.T. Kearney is an international leader in management consulting with over 3,600 global professionals advising on, in addition to other areas, strategy, mergers and acquisitions, operations, and organisation and transformation from its offices in more than 40 countries – among them Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE.