Abu Dhabi’s wealth fund ADQ is going to acquire a minority stake in Sotheby’s. Franco-Israeli entrepreneur Patrick Drahi, the majority owner of the auction house since 2019, will also add more capital, giving the company an overall new cash injection of $1 billion.
In 2022 sovereign wealth fund tracker Global SWF estimated ADQ had assets of $157 billion, which include state airline Etihad, majority shares in retailer LuLu Group and a significant investment in French multinational Louis Dreyfus Company.
In 2023 Sotheby’s reported gross sales of $7.9 billion, down from $8 billion in 2022, which was however the best performing year in the company’s history. Despite this, in June the auction house’s credit rating was cut from B to B minus by S&P Global Ratings. The auction house operates in 40 countries across 80 locations, selling art, antqiues, real estate, wine, watches and other high value assets.
