Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor Mubadala is pursuing restructurings, management changes and mergers in an effort to salvage billions of dollars invested in European start-ups, according to people with knowledge of the strategy.The moves come as valuations of European start-ups have suffered steep declines four years after the $300bn fund increased its investments in the region. Mubadala’s methods have unsettled the close-knit European start-up community, the people said.Mubadala’s venture dealmaker Ibrahim Ajami exerted pressure on German insurance start-up Wefox chief Julian Teicke to step down, which the latter did in March, two years after the fund led a financing round based on a $4.5bn valuation.“Lawyer up,” Ajami told Teicke then, according to two people familiar with the exchange. Ajami added that after using money from Mubadala, the Germany start-up founder would “feel the power of a sovereign fund”, they said.A Mubadala Capital executive said that despite challenges facing the wider venture capital sector, the fund has “remained committed to working collaboratively with management and other shareholders to ensure our portfolio companies are sustainably positioned for the future”.Teicke declined to comment.In recent weeks Mubadala has explored a sale of Wefox and led a restructuring of Turkish food delivery platform Getir, according to the people. The fund has invested about $80mn and nearly $1bn in the companies, respectively, they added.“They’ve really been trying to be this respected investor” in Europe, said one person who has worked with Mubadala. “It’s very ruthless the way they act.”Ajami, who oversaw much of Mubadala’s European push, has himself appeared under pressure and given up at least one of his board seats, according to people familiar with the matter. Mubadala Investment Company was created in 2017 via a merger between two Emirati state groups. Its Mubadala Capital subsidiary, which includes the venture capital unit, has roughly $20bn of assets under management.Europe has been Mubadala Capital’s most active region after North America for venture deals, according to data provider PitchBook. The investor participated in 28 European deals over the past five years, accounting for more than a fifth of its transactions globally. The US has accounted for a much larger part of the fund’s foreign investments.It boosted venture investments in the years before the coronavirus pandemic, reaching a peak of 32 deals in 2021, according to PitchBook, but as rising interest rates stoke a plunge in start-up valuations it is retreating, inking just nine deals last year amid a broader pullback in the market. Mubadala is not alone in navigating factors such as rising interest rates and choppy markets that have led to a broad slowdown in venture capital investments. The scale of its problems is larger than most, however.A person who has worked with Mubadala said it had endured “a tough run”.Mubadala’s tallest task will be rescuing its investment in Getir.Founded in 2015, the pioneer in express grocery deliveries reached a valuation of nearly $12bn two years ago, operating in countries from the US to the UK and Germany.Getir’s valuation plunged nearly 80 per cent last year to $2.5bn after investors grew nervous about funding its losses and it was forced to cut back operations.Getir’s retreat culminated in a restructuring agreed in June, which included a $250mn cash injection led by Mubadala. As part of the deal the Abu Dhabi fund took control of Getir’s grocery unit in Turkey, the start-up’s only remaining delivery market. Getir chief executive and founder Nazim Salur stepped out of his management role, which Mubadala had sought, according to people familiar with the matter.Salur remains on the board of the Turkish business following the deal but Ajami is to step off amid tensions with the company’s founders, according to the people. Salur declined to comment. Salur and Getir’s founders will retain control of other non-food and grocery delivery businesses that were part of the company, such as taxi-hailing. New Mubadala executives joining the Getir board include Faris Al Mazrui, who leads the growth unit for the Mubadala Investment Company.The Mubadala Capital executive said: “We have been the only investor to consistently support Getir over the last three rounds, providing over 80 per cent of the capital that has gone into the company since 2021.“Without Mubadala’s partnership and support, Getir would not exist today. At different times during that period, we have had disagreements with the founders on strategy and direction of the company, but we worked through these issues constructively and are fully aligned on the strategy and path going forward.”Mubadala has also attempted to salvage its investment in Wefox, in which it first invested in 2019. The fund holds about 5 per cent of the start-up after leading a $450mn funding round in 2022, based on a $4.5bn valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.However, earlier this year it circulated a series of proposals to other investors that included a sale of the company’s core business for just €550mn to a rival backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Wefox’s founders and other investors have since secured rescue financing, averting a sale of the company’s main business and allowing it to pursue an independent strategy. The Mubadala Capital executive said: “Wefox involves a complex situation with various shareholders working through a strategy review in parallel with a new leadership transition. “There are a number of constituents and stakeholders with various perspectives which are not always in agreement. We are one voice amongst many working in good faith.”A representative for Wefox did not respond to a request for comment.Mubadala invested in other challenged start-ups, including European bicycle and scooter rental business Tier, which merged with a rival at the start of this year. It has had some successes in its portfolio. Mubadala participated in a 2022 investment in Swedish buy-now, pay-later pioneer Klarna at a $6.7bn valuation. This is lower than the level at which the company’s shares are trading in secondary markets as the company weighs an initial public offering.Mubadala’s venture chief Ajami, who also led the fund’s $15bn investment in SoftBank’s original 2017 Vision Fund, has his own changes afoot, according to a person familiar with the matter.He is planning an upcoming move to California, where he will continue to work for the fund.
