An investment conglomerate owned by Dubai’s ruler is weighing plans to list the commercial and residential units of its property portfolio separately in an effort to harness the city’s real estate boom.
Dubai Holding is considering bundling its malls and other commercial assets into an entity that may be listed, according to people familiar with the matter.
It is also working on packaging its residential properties into a real estate investment trust (Reit), Bloomberg News reported last month.
The residential property trust is expected to be listed on the emirate’s bourse early next year, followed by the commercial entity, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
Dubai Holding is one of the city’s principal investment vehicles with assets of US$72 billion, ranging from luxury hotels to theme parks. It recently rebranded its residential portfolio of 40,000 homes, after taking control of state-backed developers Nakheel and Meydan.
Discussions are ongoing, and no final decisions have been taken on the structure, timing and valuations, the people said. Emirates NBD Capital is arranging the residential Reit along with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, while the Emirati lender is working with HSBC Holdings and JPMorgan Chase on the commercial deal, according to the people.
