Lunate Buys 40% Stake in ADNOC from BlackRock, KKR

Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based alternative asset manager, recently purchased a 40% stake in ADNOC Oil Pipelines LLC, an onshore and offshore midstream crude oil pipeline infrastructure asset, from BlackRock and KKR.

The stake acquisition by Lunate’s Long Term Capital Fund comes nearly five years after BlackRock and KKR paid $4 billion upfront through a special purpose vehicle to invest in ADONC’s pipeline assets, becoming the first investment by international financial institutions in the infrastructure of a state-owned energy company in the Gulf region.

Based in Abu Dhabi, AOP was established in 2019 to lease ownership interests in 22 pipelines from ADNOC for 23 years through a concession agreement. The pipelines include 17 onshore and five offshore pipelines across the region, covering 806 kilometers with a total capacity of 18 million barrels per day.

Lunate’s investment “aligns with our long-term capital strategy to identify and invest in premium infrastructure assets,” managing partner Murtaza Hussain said. “It also presents an opportunity to invest in a core Abu Dhabi asset and demonstrates our confidence in the UAE economy.”

With $105 billion in assets under management, Lunate was launched by Chimera Investment, an Abu Dhabi-based private organization, in September 2023. The company has interests in private equity, venture capital, private credit, real assets, public equities and public credit markets.