Mubadala Launches LeasePlan Emirates

Mubadala Development Company today announced the launch of LeasePlan Emirates LLC, an Abu Dhabi based company with a paid-up capital of AED 10 Million that will offer comprehensive fleet management and vehicle leasing services throughout the UAE.

LeasePlan Emirates is a joint venture between Mubadala, an investment and development vehicle for the Government of Abu Dhabi, and LeasePlan Corporation, the world’s leading fleet management and vehicle leasing company.

The main objective of LeasePlan Emirates will be to provide comprehensive fleet management solutions in the UAE that are set at the same standards as those delivered in the large vehicle markets of Europe and the US. In those markets, few companies that operate vehicle fleets have in-house fleet departments for the benefits of outsourcing are clearly obvious. By engaging professional fleet management experts, they benefit from increased management information and cost transparency, and almost immediately reduce their cost base through supplier consolidation, increases in internal efficiency and better decisions on fleet usage.

“Mubadala acquired 25% of LeasePlan Corporation in 2004. This acquisition’s direct result was the creation of LeasePlan Emirates, another example of how Mubadala leverages its international acquisitions to create a strategic tie-back and ensure benefits to the economies of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

LeasePlan Emirates introduces an entirely new business concept (fleet management and vehicle leasing) which will greatly contribute to improving efficiencies in the marketplace and delivering value-added solutions to corporations and government entities by optimizing their fleets and helping them focus on their core businesses” declared Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Chief Operating Officer of Mubadala.

LeasePlan Emirates will be active in directly supplying fleet management programs to corporate and government entities that will enable them to optimize their fleet. The larger the fleet size operated by an entity, the larger the benefits and potential savings, although companies with as few a 5 vehicles have the potential to benefit from LeasePlan Emirates cost control programs.

While vehicle finance by the way of long term operating leases is predicted to provide the company with over AED 1 Billion in portfolio within 10 years, the focus will be to provide fleet management programs that meet the increasing demand for outsourced expertise. The programs cover all of the direct components required to be organised for a vehicle fleet such as fuel, vehicle replacement, maintenance and repair, utilization reporting, licences for oil fields, accident management, emergency roadside assistance and insurances. They work just as well on a fleet that is owned by an organisation as they do on a fleet that is financed by LeasePlan.

“You cannot survive in a market where you cannot offer cost competitive, value adding products. LeasePlan has successfully entered 26 new markets because not only can it control cost, it can also provide companies that operate fleets with a completely new and effective approach to vehicle financing and management”, LeasePlan Emirates General Manager Craig Ross said.

“The opportunity exists in the UAE market to offer a new range of products aimed at the sophisticated company manager who can recognize that decisions on vehicle fleets need to become based on total lifecycle costs. With the growth in the UAE economy, companies simply have no time to develop in-house systems for vehicle management, for their key staff are needed for core business activities. They have the option now to use LeasePlan as the back-office, providing finance, comprehensive reporting and administrative tasks. This provides space for the fleet managers to concentrate on improving their company’s own performance” added Ross.

LeasePlan Corporation is the leading global player in vehicle leasing with 1.3 million vehicles running on its programs in 26 other countries.

Mubadala Development is a Public Joint Stock company established and wholly owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Its mission is to invest in commercially-viable, strategic, industrial and commercial partnerships.

The company manages a diversified portfolio of local, regional, and international investments. International investments include the Dutch fleet management giant LeasePlan Corporation (25% stake), and a stake in nine oil exploration blocks in Libya. Stakes are also held in the Swiss aircraft and engine services provider SR Technics (40%), the Italian luxury car manufacturer Ferrari (5%), and Piaggio Aero Industries (35%).

In the United Arab Emirates and wider Gulf region, Mubadala Development has invested in, and developed, a number of leading projects including the first GCC cross-border natural gas project, Dolphin Energy (51% majority stake), Aldar Properties, National Central Cooling Company, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, Imperial College London Diabetes Center in Abu Dhabi, Injazat Data Systems, and the Mukhaizna Oil Field developments in Oman.

Mubadala Development signed a joint development agreement with Dubai Aluminum Company (DUBAL) to develop, construct, own and operate a USD6-billion world class green-field aluminium smelter complex with 1.2-million tons capacity a year at the Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala Development is also leading the development of the UAE University’s new campus in Al Ain City through a public-private partnership initiative.

Mubadala Development also prides itself on the creation of numerous strategic alliances and associated projects. Current alliance partners include Dubai Aluminum Company (DUBAL), Rolls-Royce, and Shell.