Adia to buy $1bn stake in US software company Qlik

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• Deal values tech company at $10bn
• Qlik specialises in data analytics
• Adia’s assets stand at $993bn

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund is buying a $1 billion stake in data analytics software company Qlik, the latest deal in a string of Gulf purchases from buyout groups.

Thoma Bravo, a US buyout group that specialises in software businesses, acquired Qlik for $3 billion in 2016 and is to sell a stake to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia). 

The deal will value Qlik at about $10 billion, the Financial Times reported.

Qlik, based in Pennsylvania, provides data integration, tracking and management software to businesses. Its sales are on track to reach $1.5 billion this year and sources told the FT that bookings for its software subscriptions are up 30 percent year on year.

The deal is part of a trend in which funds such as Adia – which has assets under management of $993 billion –  are growing in importance as sources of financing for takeovers and stake acquisitions. Private equity investment has slowed because of high interest rates and difficulties exiting.

• Adia-backed platform to invest in more Indonesia toll roads
• Abu Dhabi is top global city for SWF assets with $1.6 trillion
• Adia to invest $750m in debt of India’s GMR Group

In recent months Adia has backed Advent International’s purchase of a stake in US wealth manager Fisher Investments, Blackstone’s $14 billion acquisition of a climate technology business from engineering group Emerson and KKR’s €22 billion ($23 billion) acquisition of Telecom Italia’s fixed-line phone and internet network.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, which manages $302 billion in assets, announced in September that it would participate in a $25 billion programme of private credit direct lending initially aimed at the North American market. The venture is being  launched by Citigroup and alternative asset manager Apollo.