When US banks searched the world for rescue capital during the early stages of the financial crisis, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was the first sovereign wealth fund to provide assistance.
In November 2007 – after only three days of due diligence, according to people familiar with the matter – Adia agreed to invest $7.5bn in Citigroup. In return, Adia received “equity units” that currently pay an annual 11 per cent dividend and convert into shares, starting in March 2010, at a price of not less than $31.83.
The deal by Adia – then the world’s wealthiest sovereign wealth fund, with an estimated $800bn in funds, according to a New York Federal Reserve Bank official – left its Gulf peers looking on from the sidelines with envy.
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