Shaher Awartani’s Hospitality and Healthcare Investments: Café Milano Abu Dhabi and Reem Hospital

In 2017, Shaher Moh’d Ali Awartani co-founded Café Milano Abu Dhabi with H.E. Yousif Al Otaiba and Mubadala Investment Company, introducing the Washington, D.C. restaurant brand to the Four Seasons Hotel in Abu Dhabi. It was the first time Awartani had invested directly in the hospitality sector, adding a consumer business to a portfolio built largely on infrastructure, real estate, and financial services.

Café Milano’s Washington location has a well-established reputation as a venue for diplomatic and political figures. That quality transfers well to Abu Dhabi’s Four Seasons, where the client base similarly includes senior government and institutional figures. The Abu Dhabi outlet is the only Café Milano that operates outside Washington, D.C., a distinction that fits the Four Seasons’ position at the top of the luxury hospitality market.

The Partners Involved

The partners behind Café Milano Abu Dhabi bring institutional standing to the venture. Yousif Al Otaiba has served as the UAE’s Ambassador to the United States for many years and knows the Washington restaurant well. Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund with assets above USD 300 billion, provides the institutional anchor.

By 2017, Awartani’s construction and investment work had already brought him into close contact with many of the same partners. The hospitality venture added a consumer-facing business to his portfolio without moving him far from the institutional relationships he had built over the preceding decades.

Reem Hospital Abu Dhabi

In 2020, Awartani joined a group of investors — including Yousif Al Otaiba and the Bashee family — in taking substantial shareholding positions in Reem Hospital Abu Dhabi. InvestCorp of Bahrain, Mubadala Investment Company holding a 25% stake, and Wisayah Capital, a wholly owned Saudi Aramco subsidiary, were also part of the transaction.

The mix of investors in Reem Hospital is notable. Abu Dhabi sovereign capital, a major Bahraini alternative asset manager, and a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest energy companies all hold positions in the same hospital alongside private investors. That combination points to the asset’s standing as a premium private healthcare facility in a market with durable long-term demand.

The UAE’s Private Healthcare Market

The UAE’s private healthcare sector has grown steadily over the past ten years, driven by population growth, wider health insurance coverage, and government policy designed to reduce the volume of patients seeking medical treatment abroad. Abu Dhabi has directed significant capital into private healthcare infrastructure over this period. Premium hospital operators such as Reem Hospital are well placed within that environment.

How the Portfolio Fits Together

Awartani’s investments in hospitality and healthcare follow the same logic that runs through the rest of his portfolio. Each investment involves premium assets in Abu Dhabi, held with institutional or sovereign co-investors, in sectors that benefit from the emirate’s population growth and rising wealth levels. Construction provided the foundation of his career. Real estate and private equity added diversification. Hospitality and healthcare add assets that produce returns over long periods, completing a portfolio that is structured with the next generation in mind.