Aldar sells 2 district cooling units to Tabreed

Dubai - Units sold for Dh963m will have an internal rate of return of over 40%

Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties has signed an agreement to divest its two district cooling assets on Saadiyat Island to National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) for Dh963 million.

The transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2021 with an internal rate of return of over 40 per cent. Proceeds will be used to finance further growth of Aldar’s diversified portfolio of high-quality income-generating property.

Aldar had purchased a 100 per cent stake in Saadiyat District Cooling (SDCL) and an 85 per cent stake in Saadiyat Cooling (SCL) as part of a wider acquisition of assets from Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) in 2018.

This is the latest major transaction by Aldar this year. The company signed an agreement with ADQ, an Abu Dhabi holding company, in late November to manage over Dh30 billion of capital projects. That deal significantly increases Aldar’s fee-based third-party development management business, which is also working on government contracts to manage an upgrade of infrastructure on Saadiyat Island and in the Mina Port area of Abu Dhabi.

Talal Al Dhiyebi, CEO of Aldar Properties, said this is a win-win transaction.

“Aldar is pursuing attractive acquisitions, implementing an active approach to asset management and continuously recycling capital to invest in future growth. In line with this strategy, Aldar will build on its strong financial and operating performance in 2020 by further deploying capital in the long-term growth of our two core real estate businesses – asset management and development management,” said Al Dhiyebi.

“Moving forward, we are well placed – both financially and operationally – to continue to take advantage of further growth opportunities in the UAE market and beyond,” said Bader Saeed Al Lamki, CEO of Tabreed.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi