By: Naser
It seems nowadays that Abu Dhabi is buying everything! Every week you hear in the news about a company owned by the Abu Dhabi government buying a stake in a global company.
This time it’s the Ultimate Fighter Championship. UFC is a mixed martial arts competition, where two combatants fight for 15 min or until one is knocked out. It was announced this week that Flash Entertainment, a company wholly-owned by Abu Dhabi government, met with UFC owners Lorenzo J. Fertitta, Frank Fertitta III and Dana White, and agreed to acquire a 10% stake in the company. The value of the deal was not announced.UFC’s popularity has been growing, as more and more people are watching this sport. In April, a UFC fight will be held in Abu Dhabi.
Other recent acquisitions by Abu Dhabi include Virgin Galactic, the Carlyle Group, AMD, the Chrysler Building, and most recently Hyatt Hotels, among others.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
I hear that UFC champion Royce Gracie will be giving a seminar in Kuwait for 3 days; maybe KIA will buy the other 90%
[Reply]
Right on… a very good investment!
[Reply]
Definitely interesting news, but frankly, we are now surfeited with Abu Dhabi buying stuff. I think Abu Dhabi would do well to invest in the areas with the potential to change the world. UFC is a good business, no question about it, but it won’t compare to investments that have the potential to change the way the world works. I don’t see Abu Dhabi making cash injections into sectors that can change the world’s future, and don’t tell me about Cleantech or Green tech.
I’ve watched an interview with Dana White by Bloomberg. He’s a shrewd businessman who would not sell for ten times what he thinks the market price of his shares would be.
The risk here is that it’s very easy for one negative piece of info to destroy the UFC and its credibility. But I don’t see that happening anytime in the next five years as the closely held ownership knows what its doing.
[Reply]
Keynesian Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Good points dxb. However, I guess you should be looking at the investment not as a potentially lucrative “financial” one, but one of the thousand mile steps Abu Dhabi are taking to transform their city into an lively entertainment hub.
Abu Dhabi is “the” up & coming entertainment destination with their Rihanna & Beyonce concerts among other events. I view investing in UFC as a mean of boosting the list of entertainment events to be hosted in Abu Dhabi.
[Reply]