ID :
21904
Mon, 09/29/2008 - 15:13
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Dubai Group acquires 51% stake in Bahrain's Acacia for US$76.9m

Dubai Group has paid US$76.9 million (Dh282.83 million) for a 51 per cent stake in Bahrain's Acacia Real Estate Ltd. to expand across the region according to a report in ‘Gulf News.’

Dubai Ventures Group, a unit of Dubai Group, acquired the stake to gain access to Acacia's property deals, knowledge in structuring real-estate financial products as well as a network of partners across developed markets, Dubai Group said on Sunday in an e-mailed statement. TAIB Bank EC is Acacia's founding shareholder.

Acacia, founded in December 2006, invests in income-generating properties and projects in the US, the UK and Asia, according to the statement. It has over US$1.4 billion of assets under management.

"This is a strategic investment as we seek to expand our real estate portfolio across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as other emerging markets," Abdul Hakeem Kamkar, Dubai Ventures' chief executive officer, said in the statement.

Money from the funding will be used to expand Acacia's portfolio in the six Gulf countries, Turkey, India, and Southeast Asia. It will also be used to "capture attractive opportunistic deals" in the US and the UK, according to the statement.

Dubai Ventures earlier this year acquired a 51 per cent stake in KOP Capital, a Singapore-based real-estate fund manager and developer, which focuses on high-end residential and commercial developments in Asia Pacific.

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