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Aldar to allow 40% foreign ownership

Aldar Properties, the UAE's third-largest property developer by market value, says it is set to allow non-UAE nationals to own up to 40% of its shares.

In a statement posted on the Abu Dhabi bourse website on Friday, Aldar said its board was expected to approve a general assembly resolution to raise the permitted percentage of foreign ownership. It did not give a date.
Aldar is seeking to raise more than $1.3 billion from a convertible Islamic bond sale open to international investors.

The firm has the option of increasing the size of the issue to $1.5 billion, according to terms of the sale. Shareholders have approved plans to raise as much as $3.5 billion.

Aldar needs to finance projects worth about $50 billion in Abu Dhabi in the next five to 10 years, the company's chief executive has said.

"For those who want to participate in a construction boom in Abu Dhabi over the next three to five years, Aldar will offer that chance," said Haissam Arabi, head of asset management at Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital, which manages $1 billion in Arab markets.

Including land that will be added to the company's balance sheet over the next five to 10 years, Aldar's net asset value would be 23 dirhams per share, more than 5 times its closing price on Thursday, Aldar's chief financial officer has said.

Most of the land is given to the company free by the Abu Dhabi government, holder of more than 90% of the UAE's oil reserves.

Shares in Aldar, which listed in 2005 after a heavily oversubscribed initial public offering, tumbled 57% in 2006 during a Gulf Arab stock market crash that cut the capitalisation of the Abu Dhabi bourse by 42.3%.

Aldar's fourth-quarter net profit rose 20.4% on higher rental income and land values, it said last month.

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