The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG) is a private investment vehicle established in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family and UAE Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister. Although legally structured as a private firm with no formal sovereign mandate, ADUG's ownership by a ruling-family figure and its documented overlaps with Abu Dhabi state entities have fuelled long-standing perceptions that it operates as an informal extension of Emirati state capitalism and soft power. Its flagship holding is City Football Group, backed by a sizeable UAE and UK real estate portfolio.