An investment firm backed by Abu Dhabi’s Al Maskari family is planning to list a blank-check firm in the city, people familiar with the matter said, in what would be the second such deal in the Middle East.
MEASA Partners is targeting a listing for the special purpose acquisition company this year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. It’s working with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC and Credit Suisse Group AG on the potential listing, they said.
Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, a joint venture between Mubadala Investment Co. and Alpha Wave Global, is expected to anchor the transaction, the people said. Details of the offer such as its size and timeline are still preliminary and subject to change, while more banks may be added at a later stage, they said.
Representatives for MEASA Partners, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, Credit Suisse and ADCB declined to comment.
MEASA Partners was established in 2020 by Al Maskari Holding, the holding company of the family’s portfolio, in partnership with Dr. Russell Read and Peter Lejre as co-founders, according to the website.
The firm aims to attract institutional capital to invest across the Middle East, Africa and Southern Asia via Abu Dhabi. Read is the former chief investment officer of California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the Alaska Permanent Fund and Gulf Investment Corp.
Waning Demand
SPACs are empty shells that raise money from investors in an initial public offering and then scout for private companies to buy within a specified timeframe, usually two years. They exploded in popularity two years ago — when markets were still awash with liquidity and investors quick to back risky ventures.
Demand for the vehicles has since plummeted, as equity markets took a turn for the worse amid heightened inflation and rising interest rates. Dozens of SPACs were forced to shut down without finding a target, and those that managed to find one have underperformed normal IPOs and the broader market in the US.
There’s only been one SPAC in the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates became the first regional market to introduce a legal framework for blank-check listings at the start of last year. ADC Acquisition Corp., backed by Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ and Chimera Investments raised 367 million dirhams ($100 million) in its IPO about a year ago.
Mubadala’s asset management arm previously listed a SPAC in the US, Blue Whale Acquisition Corp., which will hit its two-year deadline to find a target in August.
Other planned Middle Eastern SPACs have floundered. Alternative asset manager Investcorp and private equity firm Gulf Capital both planned to list blank-check companies in the UAE but no deals have materialized.
Author: Julia Fioretti, Archana Narayanan and Nicolas Parasie