Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat is partnering with France’s TRAIL to back an investment fund focused on arts, music, luxury, and sports deals. As part of the arrangement, the French fund will open an office in Bahrain and use it as a hub for fundraising and the expansion of its portfolio companies in the Gulf. TRAIL is an investor in Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling, while its SLAM fund has invested in mixed martial arts through AresMMA, and motorcycle racing team Tech3.
The deal was announced in Paris, where Aluminium Bahrain also said it would go ahead with a $2.2 billion purchase of Aluminium Dunkerque. The deals are further proof of Gulf countries’ willingness to deploy capital abroad even as they seek to bolster their domestic economies. Mumtalakat, with assets of around $18 billion, is one of the smallest Gulf sovereign wealth funds.