Dubai: Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. (IHC) is flying high… literally.
It’s investments in SpaceX – the US company building rockets and spaceships – is paying off. In a filing made late last month, SpaceX confirmed that it had completed an $850 million equity funding round.
That values the company at around $76 billion – a sharp 60 per cent increase on the $46 billion it had in August last.
All of which would bring a lot of cheer to IHC, an investment company whose share price shot up in three-digit terms in recent months. In the second-half of last year, IHC purchased a 94 per cent stake in Falcon CI IV LP, a Cayman Island based private equity fund that has invested in California-based SpaceX.
It is building new prototypes of its Starship, a next-generation re-usable rocket; it has two active spacecrafts – Dragon and Falcon 9; and is building out Starlink, a global broadband internet satellite constellation which will have more than 12,000 satellites for world coverage.
“There are a number of venture capital deals that we have invested in as part of our mandate to secure interests in fast growing, scalable technology, media and biotech ventures,” said Peter Abraam, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, IHC.
“We were able to gain exposure in SpaceX via our fund acquisition in Falcon CI IV, while other deals such as Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Multiply Marketing and YieldMo were done directly through acquisition or financing rounds.”
"The Dubai Financial Market General Index is fluctuating near open levels, failing to decide on a clear direction. The index is currently holding steady near 2,550. The real estate sector is holding up with Damac Properties rallying 2.5 per cent to Dh1.22."
