23 September 2026
EQT, the largest private markets firm in Europe with USD 389 billion in assets under management, announced on 23 September 2026 that it has launched a Middle East platform and opened an office in Abu Dhabi Global Market. It is the first EQT office anywhere in the Middle East. The platform is led by Jimmy Mahtani, appointed Chairman of GCC, while the ADGM office is headed by Smiyet Belrhiti as Head of Middle East and Senior Executive Officer. With Abu Dhabi added, EQT now has offices in more than 25 countries that together account for more than 80 per cent of global GDP. The move follows Blue Owl, the USD 315 billion private credit manager that set up its own Abu Dhabi base earlier in 2026.
What EQT announced
The announcement has two parts that are easy to confuse. The first is the office itself, a physical presence licensed in ADGM. The second is the Middle East platform, which is the investment mandate that will run out of that office. EQT described the Abu Dhabi location as the first within a broader regional platform it expects to develop over time, so the company is not treating the GCC as a single market covered from one desk.
The platform brings together Private Capital and Infrastructure investing under what EQT calls its One EQT approach, and it is designed to draw on the firm’s Real Estate and Secondaries capabilities as opportunities develop. Jimmy Mahtani and Smiyet Belrhiti are joined from the launch by a local team of investment professionals across Private Capital and Infrastructure, together with capital raising and business operations staff. In other words, this is a staffed office with a mandate, not a representative desk.
EQT already has portfolio companies operating in the region, several of them for well over a decade. The firm named Nord Anglia Education, Virtusa, Banking Circle, Nothing and SAUR as businesses with an active presence in the GCC. A local platform lets EQT work more closely with those companies and support others that want to expand into the region.
Who runs the platform
Jimmy Mahtani keeps his existing role as Chairman of India and Southeast Asia for EQT Private Capital, a business he has led for more than two decades, and sits on the firm’s Asia Investment Committee. Smiyet Belrhiti brings over twenty years across private equity, corporate development and investment in the GCC and the wider MENA region.
Per Franzen, Chief Executive and Managing Partner of EQT, said the launch reflects the firm’s conviction in the scale and momentum of opportunity across the GCC, and pointed to sectors undergoing structural transformation that attract long term capital. Jean Eric Salata, Chair of EQT Group, framed the office as the next step in relationships built with the largest regional investors over three decades. H.E. Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM, welcomed EQT and repeated Abu Dhabi’s positioning as the Capital of Capital.
EQT at a glance
| Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total assets under management, 30 June 2026 | EUR 341 billion, or USD 389 billion |
| Fee generating assets under management | EUR 186 billion |
| Business segments | Private Capital, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Secondaries |
| Countries with offices after Abu Dhabi | More than 25 |
| Share of global GDP covered by those countries | More than 80 per cent |
| Middle East offices before 23 September 2026 | None |
| Chairman of GCC | Jimmy Mahtani |
| Head of Middle East and Senior Executive Officer | Smiyet Belrhiti |
Why ADGM was the choice
EQT gave three reasons for Abu Dhabi: a globally connected financial ecosystem, a strong regulatory framework and an institutional environment. Each of those maps onto something specific about ADGM rather than onto the UAE in general.
ADGM directly applies English common law, which puts it among a handful of jurisdictions worldwide and makes it the only one in the region to do so. Its courts and its own regulator, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, sit inside the free zone, so a fund structure, a shareholders agreement or a dispute resolution clause drafted to common law standards does not need to be translated into an unfamiliar legal system. For a firm that raises capital from global institutional investors, that removes a layer of documentation risk before the first deal is signed.
The institutional environment is the second half of the answer. Abu Dhabi hosts several of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds along with large family offices and institutional partners. A manager with an on the ground team can meet those allocators routinely instead of flying in, which is the practical difference between covering a region and operating in it.
Abu Dhabi keeps adding global managers
EQT lands in a centre that has been compounding. ADGM closed the first half of 2026 with assets under management up 54 per cent year on year, 190 fund and asset managers, up 23 per cent from 154, and 276 funds, up from 209. Active licences reached 13,974 with 1,814 issued in the half, operational companies reached 3,986 and the financial companies among them reached 392. The workforce across Al Maryah and Al Reem Islands reached 49,027 people. We covered those results in detail in our report on ADGM results for the first half of 2026.
The names arriving are recognisable. Blue Owl, Capital Group, Man Group, Barings, Bain Capital, Hillhouse, Muzinich, Cantor and Rokos all registered in ADGM during the first half of 2026, joining anchor managers such as BlackRock, State Street, PGIM and Nuveen that were already there. The same pattern runs in Dubai, where Carmignac opened its first Middle East office in DIFC in September 2026. Abu Dhabi is also building institutional bridges beyond capital, as in the Hanwha agreement with ADGM and ADIO.
What the move means for business in the UAE
For most companies, a single office opening changes nothing procedural. No rule, fee or threshold moved on 23 September 2026. What changes is the composition of the counterparty pool, and that has practical consequences over a longer horizon.
A private markets firm of this size does not open an office to run a fund from a distance. It opens one to buy companies, back management teams and finance infrastructure. Its portfolio companies, and the businesses it acquires, need local suppliers, service providers, corporate structures, banking and staff. Companies in healthcare, education, digital infrastructure, business services, industrials and energy transition are the ones EQT named as priority sectors, and those are the sectors where the effect will show first.
The second consequence is about standards. Institutional buyers run diligence on audited accounts, clean cap tables, documented compliance and real substance. A business that hopes to be acquired or funded by this class of investor needs its corporate record in order well before a conversation starts, not during it.
Checklist for companies looking at ADGM
- Match the jurisdiction to the activity. ADGM is a financial free zone with its own regulator and common law courts, built for regulated financial firms, holding structures, funds, family offices and SPVs.
- Budget for the right licence class. Registration Authority fees differ sharply between non financial, retail, financial and tech startup licences, and financial activity additionally requires FSRA authorisation.
- Separate the company licence from the regulatory permission. Incorporating in ADGM is one process, obtaining an FSRA financial services permission is another, with its own timeline, capital requirements and approved individuals.
- Plan substance from day one. Office space, resident directors and local staff are what make a structure defensible to a bank, a regulator and a future buyer.
- Open banking in parallel, not after. Account opening timelines run alongside incorporation and depend on the ownership structure you have already filed.
- Check whether you need ADGM at all. Trading, logistics, consulting and general commercial businesses usually get a better cost and licensing profile in a mainland structure or another free zone, while still contracting with counterparties based in ADGM.
How Atlant Capital can help
We register companies on the mainland and in free zones, including holding and investment holding structures and consulting licences, and we handle company formation in the UAE end to end. We open corporate and personal accounts and take clients through the documentation that banks actually ask for, a process we set out step by step in our guide to opening a bank account in the UAE and in our bank account opening service. We arrange work permits and residency visas for founders and staff, and Golden Visas for investors who qualify.
Two boundaries are worth stating plainly. FSRA authorisation is a specialised regulatory procedure handled by licensed compliance consultants, and we do not run it. Accounting, audit and tax filing are done by licensed accounting firms from our partner network. If ADGM is the right answer for your structure we will say so, and if it is not we will say that too. Tell us what you are building and we will map the structure to it.
The bottom line
EQT opening in ADGM is one more entry on a list that has been growing all year, and the list itself is the story. When managers holding USD 389 billion and USD 315 billion put staffed teams in the same emirate within months of each other, the question for a business in the UAE stops being whether global capital is present and becomes whether the company is structured to work with it.
Source: The National, EQT press release.
FAQ
Where did EQT open its first Middle East office?
EQT opened its first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi Global Market, the international financial centre of Abu Dhabi, announced on 23 September 2026. The office is the base for a newly launched Middle East platform covering the GCC, and EQT says it is the first location within a broader regional platform it expects to build out over time.
How much does EQT manage?
EQT held EUR 341 billion, or USD 389 billion, in total assets under management as of 30 June 2026, of which EUR 186 billion was fee generating. The firm invests across four segments: Private Capital, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Secondaries. After adding Abu Dhabi it has offices in more than 25 countries representing more than 80 per cent of global GDP.
Who leads the EQT Middle East platform?
Jimmy Mahtani was appointed Chairman of GCC and leads the platform, alongside his existing role as Chairman of India and Southeast Asia for EQT Private Capital. Smiyet Belrhiti was appointed Head of Middle East and Senior Executive Officer and runs the ADGM office. Both are supported from launch by a local team across Private Capital, Infrastructure, capital raising and operations.
Does the EQT office change any rules for companies setting up in ADGM?
No. No licence category, government fee, capital requirement or registration threshold changed on 23 September 2026. What changes is the depth of the investor pool in Abu Dhabi. ADGM ended the first half of 2026 with 13,974 active licences, 190 fund and asset managers and assets under management up 54 per cent year on year.
