The biggest luminous attraction at night in Madrid consists of the huge screen that runs from top to bottom the Cepsa Tower in the upper part of the Paseo de la Castellana. A huge futuristic panel that commemorates important dates, displays messages in favor of environmental sustainability and also offers an inevitable flash of Asian power, which exudes the first shareholder of the company.
Cepsa, controlled 60% by the Abu Dhabi Mubadala fund, is just one example of the interest of Arab investors in Spain, which continues to increase with the entry of Saudi Telecom into Telefónica. This same summer, amidst news about tourism taking off, an investment group from Saudi Arabia, Olayan Group, acquired the Mandarin Hotel in Barcelona for 200 million euros and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund closed the purchase for 600 million euros of 17 hotels in Spain, including the Reina Victoria. A great example that Arab oil is not satisfied with little.
Not only Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, but also Qatar and Kuwait are now investing heavily abroad, with bets as varied as Uber or football clubs, from PSG to Manchester City or Newcastle. In Spain they do not fall short and they look with special interest at businesses that until now have been little explored, such as leisure or sport.
The new strategy of the Arab sovereign funds goes through the search abroad for alternatives to an economic model that is highly dependent on oil. It is not only oriented towards strategic businesses such as renewables or telecommunications, but also aspires to change the international image of the region through culture and sports.
Arab money has come to Spain to buy renewables from Fotowatio, at the time the national photovoltaic leader, and to take significant stakes in Iberdrola, at 8%, or in Iberia's parent company, IAG, at 25%. These last two investments have been made by Qatar.
The sports showcase has its most notorious example in the controversial Spanish soccer Super Cup held in Saudi Arabia, but it includes many other incursions, including the recent acquisition by Qatar of Damm of the World Padel Tour. All this without counting another type of investment, that of signing soccer players to give the Saudi league a shine.
Of the sovereign wealth funds in the region, the most ambitious is the Saudi PIF, which has indirectly entered Telefónica by controlling more than 60% of Saudi Telecom. It manages more than half a trillion euros under a strategy known as Vision 2030, with which the country's crown prince, Mohamed bin Salman, aspires to dazzle the world. From his funds come megalomaniac projects, but also an effort to diversify an economy of oil monoculture.
The State of Qatar manages the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), with more than 400,000 million euros available to invest throughout the planet. Its largest investment in Spain, in Iberdrola, is valued at more than 6,000 million euros and allows it to keep up to date with the development of renewables and electricity networks. It also has important energy supply agreements with Naturgy and an influential weight in IAG, where it sits on two directors. Through other companies, Sheikh Al Thani maintains a 5% stake in El Corte Inglés.
Abu Dhabi has Mubadala as its spearhead in Spain, through Cepsa, with which it develops important projects ranging from petrochemicals to hydrogen. His sovereign fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) manages close to 600,000 million euros in assets.
Kuwait has one of its main operating centers in Spain to direct, through various subsidiaries, its investments in Latin America and Europe. Its sovereign wealth fund is the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), one of whose subsidiaries has had Naturgy as an ally in investments in renewables worldwide.
