Abu Dhabi's IHC to Take Majority Stake in Space Firm Marlan Space
The UAE conglomerate moves into satellite infrastructure and manufacturing with an 80% acquisition of Marlan Space.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
International Holding Company, the Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate, is taking an 80% stake in Marlan Space. The transaction will run through IHC's wholly owned subsidiary International Tech Group, and it remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. A purchase price was not disclosed. IHC announced the move on Tuesday.
The deal hands IHC majority control of Marlan while connecting the company to IHC's technology, data, and infrastructure capabilities. IHC's statement said the acquisition will provide Marlan Space with capital and capabilities to accelerate its growth. IHC has been widening its deep tech portfolio into satellite infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, and it framed the deal in that context. Chief executive Syed Basar Shueb said space is an increasingly important part of the global technology and infrastructure landscape, with applications across communications, Earth observation, data, AI, and other sectors. Shueb added that the acquisition places IHC in a strategic position within the new space economy and supports Marlan's growth through access to capital and capabilities.
Marlan's chief executive, Hamdullah Mohib, said the company wants to establish globally competitive space capabilities from Abu Dhabi and connect the UAE with international technology and expertise. Some of that international reach is already built into the structure. Marlan's main operating platform is Orbitworks, a joint venture with Loft Orbital, a US company. Orbitworks is based in Abu Dhabi and runs a satellite assembly, integration, and testing facility at KEZAD. It describes itself as the Middle East's first private space infrastructure company.
Orbitworks designs, builds, tests, and operates satellites for customers in the UAE and abroad. The company has completed its first satellite, and additional satellites are being assembled in Abu Dhabi. Through its partnership with Loft Orbital, Orbitworks has access to international technology and standardized satellite infrastructure, which it says supports plans for commercial satellite deployments at scale. One product in development is Altair, an AI-enabled Earth observation constellation. Altair combines optical, hyperspectral, thermal, infrared, and passive radio-frequency sensors, and carries onboard processing.
The acquisition is another indication that the UAE is treating orbital capability as strategic infrastructure. Space, AI, data, and advanced manufacturing fit into that category across the Gulf, because local satellite production and Earth observation feed communications, environmental monitoring, defense, infrastructure planning, and data services. Building that capacity locally also trims reliance on overseas suppliers. For Marlan, the timing may prove useful: lower launch costs, rising demand for satellite-enabled data, and increased government and private investment are all reshaping the global space economy, and the company now has a wealthy parent's balance sheet behind its assembly line.
