One of the sovereign wealth funds of the United Arab Emirates, Mubadala, said that it co-led the $300 million series B round of funding for JD Industrials, a company that is a part of the JD Group, a significant Chinese online retailer.
With its 42XFund, the UAE-based Group 42 co-led the transaction.
The deal, according to Mubadala, was made through its China Investment Program. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, group CEO and managing director of the fund, has stated on Bloomberg TV that Mubadala will concentrate its investments in Asia this year in anticipation of a “solid comeback” in the Chinese economy in 2023.
The CEO said that Mubadala now has an experienced investment team stationed in China. Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and other Southeast Asian nations are among the other areas Mubadala is keeping an eye on.
The investment in JD Industrials comes after significant wagers by the UAE on businesses with an Asian basis. Although the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority recently invested US $500 million in Indian eyewear startup Lenskart, Group 42’s 42XFund recently purchased a US $100 million interest in TikTok creator ByteDance.
