By: Amr Adel
Dubai – Mubasher: Dubai Investments is currently considering two “small” exit transactions abroad in 2017, according to the company’s managing director and CEO Khalid Bin Kalban.
The volume of the two transactions is smaller than its full exit from Marmum Dairy Farm, he said on the sidelines of the company’s general meeting on Monday.
The transactions comprise the company’s exit from 20% and 25% stakes worth total investments of AED 80 and AED 85 million respectively.
The company made a full exit from Marmum and United Sales Partners last year.
Dubai Investments owns real estate projects valued at AED 1.2 billion, he said, adding that Dubai Investments Real Estate Company (DIRC) is implementing AED 500 million projects including Mirdif Hills to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Property accounts for approximately 62% of Dubai Investments’ total assets and contributes 50% of the revenue by the end of 2016.
Properties Investment, 70% owned by Dubai Investments and 30% by Union Properties (UP) is developing Green Community West DIP – Phase III with investments worth AED 600-700 million
DIRC is planning to establish a residential tower worth $200 million along the Dubai Water Canal, Bin Kalban noted.
The tower’s design is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017, while construction works will start before the end of this year after receiving necessary approvals.
Dubai Investments is expected to start working on the 11-million meter Riyadh Investment Park in the coming three months, he said, adding that a real estate investment fund (REIT) was founded to provide the necessary funding for the project,
A request will be submitted within two weeks to Saudi’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) to get its approval, which will take between 15 to 30 days, for the establishment for the fund.
Dubai Investments House’s establishment is in the final stages, he said, adding that the new firm will manage the park project.
The market value of Riyadh Investment Park’s land reached SAR 2 billion, he said, adding that the project will be carried out through two phases; the first of which amounts to SAR 400 million.
The construction Dubai Investments Park (DIP) in Angola is going according to plan, he said, noting that the company will announce the actual value of the project’s land before the end of April.
The company has a sufficient liquidity (cash and cash equivalents) up to $1 billion to meet the expansion requirements, Bin Kalban noted.
He rolled out that the company will resort to issuing sukuk in 2017, and it still has credit lines with a number of banks.
Bin Kalban expected Dubai Investments to see a better performance in Q1-17 compared to the prior-year period after excluding the AED 190 million extraordinary profits generated from the company’s exit from Marmum.
Emirates District Cooling, a joint venture of Dubai Investments and UP, is ready for listing on Dubai’s bourse three years ago, but it awaits the right timing to offer 30% of its shares for initial public offering (IPO).
Bin Kalban excluded the idea of the Dubai-listed investment firm’s merger with UP in the current period amid the lack of appropriate conditions, he said, adding that the latter company has its own future plans and has no intention for any merger.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
