UAE – Mubasher: Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company has inked a long-term agreement with the UK Office for Investment (OfI) to launch the UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership (SIP) with initial GBP 1 billion investments in life sciences.
This agreement is the first of its kind for the UK and OfI and will foster the UK-UAE trade exchange and investment ties worth GBP 32 billion in 2019, according to a press release on Wednesday.
Through the UAE-UK SIP, Mubadala will invest an initial GBP 800 million in the UK’s life sciences over five years. This amount will be used alongside the UK’s GBP 200 million Life Sciences Investment Programme announced last year.
In addition, the OfI and Mubadala will cooperate in exploring commercially viable investment opportunities in the life sciences sector.
In the upcoming five years, the SIP will also invest in several tech and innovation-led sectors to create job opportunities and promote national research and development capabilities.
The SIP’s inaugural life sciences investments are forecast to complete later this year.
The UK Minister for Investment, Gerry Grimstone, said: “This partnership will enable the UK life sciences sector to develop cutting-edge technologies and research while retaining homegrown innovation and jobs.”
The Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, remarked: “Mubadala is already a long-term investor in UK innovation and growth, and our new partnership now provides a platform to allocate stable capital to priority sectors as part of a future-focused investment relationship."
