Abu Dhabi buys €1.8bn stake in UniCredit

Aabar Investments, the Abu Dhabi state-linked investment vehicle, has become the largest voting shareholder in UniCredit after buying a stake worth €1.8bn in Europe’s third-largest bank by market value.

The acquisition of the 4.99 per cent stake by one of oil-rich Abu Dhabi’s newest and most active state-linked investment vehicles, is the latest stage in the diversification of Unicredit’s shareholder base as the bank has grown from its Italian roots across Europe over the past decade.

“UniCredit warmly welcomes the investment made by Aabar, which enlarges the stable shareholderbase of the Group,“ said UniCredit chairman Dieter Rampl. “We see it as a signal of trust in our company and its strategy by an important international institutional investor.”