Emaar to raise US$1 billion in debut Islamic facility

Dubai, UAE, October 3, 2006: Emaar Properties PJSC, the Dubai-based Public Joint Stock Company, will raise US$1 billion through Musharaka Islamic syndication. The five-year facility will primarily be used to finance Emaar’s large-scale international projects and complete its multi-billion dirham projects in the UAE. 

The syndicated Musharaka facility is the first debt issue for Emaar in terms of size and scope, and will be instrumental in meeting the company’s growth needs in the near future. The pioneering transaction is crucial in reinforcing Emaar’s ties with global financial powerhouses that will participate in the syndication. 

Mr Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties, said: “The Musharaka Islamic syndication reiterates Emaar’s Vision 2010 of becoming one of the world’s most valuable companies through international expansion and diversification. Working with key global Islamic finance institutions further enhances our position in the capital markets.”

Emaar, one of the world’s largest real estate companies, is listed on the Dubai Financial Market and is part of the Dow Jones Arabia Titans Index. The company is constructing the landmark US$20 billion Downtown Burj Dubai development, which has the Burj Dubai – the tallest tower in the world when completed in 2008 – at its epicentre. 

Emaar’s international roster of projects now spans Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan and India. In Saudi Arabia, Emaar is developing the US$26.6 billion King Abdullah Economic City, a six-component project which will bring in a new era of economic prosperity to the Kingdom. The property developer is extending its core competency of developing master-planned communities in the other markets apart from undertaking strategic initiatives in education and healthcare sectors.