Aabar Investments

Khadem Al Qubaisi served as chairman of Aabar from its founding through its peak activity, overseeing the firm's most significant deals including the Daimler and Virgin Galactic investments. He was also managing director of IPIC, Aabar's ultimate parent at the time, which placed investment governance under the broader sovereign mandate. Day-to-day deal execution was led by an internal investment team operating from the firm's Abu Dhabi headquarters.

Following the June 2016 announcement of the IPIC-Mubadala merger, which closed in early 2017, Aabar's asset holdings were absorbed into Mubadala Investment Company's broader portfolio (per Mubadala, 2017). The firm ceased to exist as an independent entity. Its largest positions, including the Daimler stake, were managed and eventually exited under Mubadala's unified investment strategy.

Aabar operated almost exclusively through direct investments and strategic joint ventures, rather than making fund commitments to external managers. The firm structured its largest positions — such as its Daimler convertible bond deal and the Virgin Galactic equity stake — as bilateral transactions, often taking board-level influence alongside the capital placement.

Technically, Aabar was structured as an investment company under the IPIC holding group, not a sovereign wealth fund. However, its capital came directly from the Abu Dhabi government, and its mandate — diversifying state wealth away from oil — mirrored that of Abu Dhabi's larger sovereign investment entities. Its absorption into Mubadala in 2017 placed the remaining assets under formal sovereign wealth fund management.

Aabar targeted automotive and transportation (Daimler, Virgin Galactic), financial services (UniCredit, Palm Hills), energy and infrastructure (a partnership with Glencore-backed Xstrata), and real estate (the Chrysler Building in New York, Aldar Properties in Abu Dhabi). The portfolio did not follow a narrow sector mandate; instead, it pursued large-cap, globally recognized brands where Abu Dhabi capital could secure meaningful influence.