On October 21, 2026, Advent — one of the world's largest private equity firms — announced the opening of a regional office at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The team will be led by Mehdi Iraqi, Managing Director in Advent's Limited Partner Services group. This is Advent's 18th office worldwide and its 15th country of operation.
What was announced
According to Advent, the Abu Dhabi office pursues three goals: deepening engagement with Middle Eastern institutional investors (sovereign funds, family offices and major private investors), supporting Advent's existing portfolio companies in the region, and sourcing new investment opportunities in MENA. Advent is one of the first global private equity houses to establish an on-the-ground presence in Abu Dhabi as part of the current wave of asset-manager localisation.
"Abu Dhabi is a natural addition to Advent's global network, alongside our recent openings in Sydney and Tokyo," said James Brocklebank, Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Advent's Global Executive Committee, in the firm's press release. Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM, added that Advent's decision reflects the attractiveness of Abu Dhabi for global investment firms and "ADGM's internationally recognised regulatory and legal framework".
The office lead — Mehdi Iraqi
Mehdi Iraqi joined Advent in January 2026. Previously he was Head of Investor Relations for the Middle East at AMG, having started his career at Carlyle. He has nearly two decades of experience working with institutional investors across the region — sovereign wealth funds, state pension programmes and family offices of the Gulf.
"Having spent much of my career working with institutional investors across the region, I know how important close partnerships are," Iraqi said in the release, calling the Middle East one of Advent's most valuable long-term partner markets.
Context: ADGM is attracting global asset managers
Advent joins a wave of global asset managers that have licensed or opened offices at ADGM in recent months — including Capital Group, HarbourVest Partners, Investindustrial, Davidson Kempner and Muzinich & Co. For the UAE capital this is deliberate policy: Abu Dhabi is systematically strengthening its regulatory environment for foreign capital and offers direct common-law jurisdiction through the ADGM Courts and the FSRA regulator — a key differentiator from most other jurisdictions in the region.
Advent by the numbers
Advent was founded in 1984 and now has over $109 billion in assets under management. Over 40 years it has completed around 460 investments across 45 countries, employing 645 people worldwide. The firm focuses on five core sectors — business and financial services, consumer, healthcare, industrial, and technology.
Expansion context: Advent opened its Sydney office in July 2024 (covering Australia and New Zealand), its Tokyo office in January 2026, and in 2026 further reinforced its long-standing Hong Kong regional base for Asia-Pacific LPs. Abu Dhabi is now the new hub for the Middle East.
What this means for UAE businesses and investors
For the local market, the arrival of another large PE house means more available capital and broader options for M&A, debt and mezzanine financing — and greater competition among managers for high-quality Emirati LPs. For regional exporters and growth-stage startups, it is another potential professional late-stage investor. For private wealth and family capital in the region, it widens the institutional set that accepts LP commitments directly through the UAE.
For founders considering an entry into the UAE through ADGM, the wave of global managers is an indirect but weighty signal of the jurisdiction's maturity. ADGM and DIFC remain the two financial centres, but for operating businesses the free-zone landscape is broader — see our overview of how 100% foreign ownership works in the UAE today and what options exist outside the financial centres.
