The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority acquired a 10.9 percent share in the Pritzker families Hyatt Hotels Corporation. A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday showed that the sovereign wealth fund now holds 4.76 million Hyatt Class A shares with a market value of about $140.4 million. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is the second sovereign wealth fund to buy shares in Hyatt after the Chicago based hotel chain went public last month. The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation last month acquired a 6 percent stake.
Smedes Rose, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, Inc in New York said Hyatt “has a really good balance sheet, so they are probably in a position to grow the company’s footprint.” Rose said other companies are probably more focused on deleveraging in the current environment. Abu Dhabi owns more than 90 percent of the UAE’s oil reserves. According to estimates by economists at the Council of Foreign Relations, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority managed $328 billion at the end of last year.
