MARKET MOVER

Since he became CEO and Managing Director in 2019, Syed Basar Shueb has overseen a remarkable period of growth for Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, resulting in a market cap of $140 billion and making it the most valuable company in the U.A.E. Not bad going for someone who started with the group working in IT.

- JASON LASRADO

Syed Basar Shueb, CEO and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company (IHC), seems especially calm considering the amount of deal-making that he's been overseeing recently. As we sit down for our zoom call, IHC is on the cusp of announcing a $50 million investment into the IPO of Borouge-a joint venture between Abu Dhabi's state-owned ADNOC and Austria's Borealis-as-a cornerstone investor. IHC subsidiaries Multiply Group and Alpha Dhabi Holding are also investing an additional $150 million into the IPO. But while significant, this is just the latest in a flurry of activity for the company. In the last three years alone, IHC has listed eight subsidiaries and invested billions of dollars into other companies.

Let's consider this year so far. In February 2022, IHC subsidiary Al Seer Marine invested $327 million into Abu Dhabi Ports Group-the only port operator in Abu Dhabi. This was followed by an announcement in March 2022 that IHC was making a $200 million investment into the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority's (DEWA's) IPO through Multiply Group and Alpha Dhabi Holding, with each investing $100 million. Both companies already have utilities investments in their portfolios. "Utility is a sector in which we are very bullish. When you leverage the portfolio, you can effectively make double-digit returns," says Shueb. The investment was strategic. DEWA, through its JV district cooling company Empower, has district cooling assets that complement Multiply's PAL Cooling and Alpha Dhabi's W Solar.