Abu Dhabi buys 32 per cent of Virgin spaceship firm

DUBAI: The Mideast investment fund with the biggest stake in Mercedes-Benz' parent is paying about $280 million to buy nearly a third of commercial space travel startup Virgin Galactic.

The investment will give Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments a 32 per cent stake and rights to eventually launch Virgin Galactic from the United Arab Emirates capital.

Aabar is the first outside investor in the spaceflight company, which has been owned fully by Richard Branson's Virgin Group. The deal values Virgin Galactic at about $875 million.

Aabar recently has emerged as one of Abu Dhabi's most active funds. It bought 9.1 per cent of Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler in March, and earlier this month bought 4 per cent of electric car producer Tesla Motors.