Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala may invest in Saudi PIF, Softbank tech fund

Mubadala Development Co., the investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi government, is in talks with SoftBank Group Corp. to invest in the $100 billion technology fund formed by the Japanese firm and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Mubadala is reported to be looking at a potential multi-billion dollar investment in the technology fund.

SoftBank is also in talks with European and North American investors, one of the people said. No final agreements have been reached and talks may still falter, the report added.

“We are taking a serious look at a potential investment to the fund as we do with similar, strong investment opportunities,” the report quoted Mubadala spokesman Brian Lott as saying. Lott declined to comment further.

The Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund is also said to be considering investing billions of dollars in the fund, in an attempt to diversify its economy away from oil, the news agency had reported last month.

Saudi PIF and Softbank signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) in October to set up a technology investment fund with a target of $100 billion.

The kingdom is expected to put in as much as $45 billion over the next five years, and SoftBank has agreed to invest at least $25 billion. Other large investors would make up the rest.