Another Morgan Stanley Banker Lands Top Investment Role at Adnoc

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(Bloomberg) — Abu Dhabi’s state energy company has increasingly looked to Wall Street’s biggest banks for the expertise needed to execute an ambitious, multibillion-dollar global dealmaking push. One firm has emerged as a particularly notable source of talent.

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Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has hired Morgan Stanley’s global co-head of energy investment banking, Michael O’Dwyer, as its chief investment officer, people familiar with the matter said. He succeeds Klaus Froehlich, who also came from the US bank and was central to the oil giant’s efforts to expand its scope and footprint, and build a global investment platform.

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That means Adnoc, an influential force in the world of energy dealmaking, has now appointed two consecutive bankers to the CIO role from Morgan Stanley.

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The hires are part of a wider effort by Adnoc to bring in Wall Street expertise with recruits from the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., including Nameer Siddiqui, who came in as the CIO of Adnoc’s international investment platform this year. Siddiqui, hired from Phillips 66, has also previously worked at Morgan Stanley.

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A representative for Adnoc couldn’t be reached for comment on O’Dwyer’s appointment, which was first reported by Reuters. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

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The energy giant’s relationship with Morgan Stanley goes beyond hiring. 

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For years, the bank has worked on listings for Adnoc’s portfolio companies, including its distribution unit in 2017. The bank had roles on Borouge Plc’s initial public offering, which raised more than $2 billion in the city’s largest-ever new share sale at the time, as well as Fertiglobe Plc’s IPO a year earlier. And it was among bookrunners on Adnoc Murban’s $1.5 billion debut sukuk last year, which attracted orders worth more than $3.85 billion.

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It has also played a significant role in some of the firm’s most ambitious deals, including on the $13 billion acquisition of chemical producer Covestro AG that’s one of the biggest Middle Eastern acquisitions of a European company. 

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Froehlich subsequently left to take on a new role as chief financial officer at Covestro. That deal was the clearest sign of ambition from Adnoc, which has picked up natural gas assets from the US to Africa and Central Asia in recent years, backed by billions of dollars of Abu Dhabi’s oil money. 

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Despite the war, the firm has showed an inclination to spend. 

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Its retail unit agreed to buy Shell Plc’s fuel stations in South Africa last month at a $1 billion enterprise value. And this week, Adnoc spent $1.3 billion to expand its tanker fleet to benefit from surging crude exports after the UAE pushed more of its oil through the contested Strait of Hormuz.

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The firm’s aspirations have enticed Wall Street, with bankers flying in from around the world for a slice of the fees. Global firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and Goldman have worked with Adnoc across different transactions.

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O’Dwyer, who was Morgan Stanley’s global co-head of energy, joined the Wall Street firm in 2008 from Lehman Brothers and has advised on some of the energy industry’s biggest transactions. 

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His predecessor, Froehlich, joined Adnoc in 2020 after 16 years at Morgan Stanley, including as head of investment banking for the Middle East and North Africa. He went on to lead Adnoc’s strategic investments and became a central figure in the company’s transformation into a global dealmaker.

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