MEOG: BlackRock, KKR sell ADNOC oil pipeline stake

BlackRock and KKR have sold their joint 40% stake in a 23-year lease concession for the oil pipelines of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) to local investment manager Lunate. The terms of the deal are yet to be revealed, but the companies paid $4bn for the stake in 2019.

Lunate has $105bn of assets under management (AUM), and was set up last year by Chimera Investment, which is run by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also chairman of ADIA, ADQ and International Holding Co., among others. Sheikh Tahnoon is one of Emirati president Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s 18 brothers.

Bloomberg has previously reported on talks that Chimera and ADQ were in considering providing more funding to Lunate.

Following the 2019 lease-out then lease-back arrangement – which became the blueprint for ADNOC Gas Pipelines, then the oil and gas pipeline businesses of Saudi Aramco – ADNOC was left with a 57% stake, with Abu Dhabi Retirement Pensions and Benefits Fund (ADRPBF) acquiring a 3% stake for $300mn. A few months later Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC acquired a 6% stake for $600mn, further reducing ADNOC’s holding to 51%.