The world's largest alternative asset manager, Blackstone (BX.N), plans to set up an office in Dubai's International Financial Centre, in a return to the Gulf's largest business hub that would strengthen its regional presence, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters.
Since Blackstone left in 2019 to set up base in fast-growing Abu Dhabi, Dubai has seen relentless growth after the COVID-19 pandemic, bolstered by ambitious investment plans and government-led residency reforms.
A Blackstone spokesperson told Reuters the company does not comment on speculative reports.
Dubai has attracted an increasing number of high-net-worth individuals and the financial centre has seen a rise in registrations by companies such as asset management firms, family offices, hedge funds and private banks.
The plan comes at a time when the Iran war has brought turmoil to the region, with heavy disruption to travel and supply chains, whose impact is starting to emerge more clearly.
Blackstone has $1.35 trillion in assets under management and invests across asset classes such as private equity, real estate and credit.
It has been making a push into private wealth, making senior appointments and increasingly targeting individual investors in regions such as Europe and the Middle East.
The U.S. firm has also been expanding its investment in the Gulf in recent years, including a stake in Dubai-based classifieds firm Property Finder.
This month, Reuters reported it had emerged as one of the bidders for a stake in Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's oil pipeline network, defying concerns around the impact of the war.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Blackstone has announced a deal with Dubai's DAE for a joint aircraft leasing investment programme and has invested $250 million in a UAE-based payments and data intelligence technology platform.
"We see significant opportunity to deploy capital at scale in the UAE to build companies that can grow both domestically and internationally, despite near-term headwinds," Jon Gray, its president and chief operating officer, said in a statement in March.
Gray is also one of the board members of XRG, Abu Dhabi state oil company's international investment arm.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private, said the U.S. company will retain its office in Abu Dhabi, home to the vast majority of the UAE's oil reserves and where sovereign funds are estimated to collectively manage more than $1.8 trillion in assets.
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