DP World's new office in Expo City Dubai. Photo: DP World
DP World's new office in Expo City Dubai. Photo: DP World
DP World's new office in Expo City Dubai. Photo: DP World
DP World's new office in Expo City Dubai. Photo: DP World

Business

DP World to move headquarters to Expo City Dubai

New home is expected to accommodate about 800 employees

John Benny

December 17, 2023

  • English
  • Arabic

DP World plans to move its head office to Expo City Dubai.

The company has been based in Jebel Ali since it was established under its current name in September 2005.

“DP World's relocation to Expo City Dubai is a not an isolated project; it is one of many within our overall transformation to become the leading global provider of end-to-end supply chain solutions,” Sultan bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief executive of DP World, said in a statement on Sunday.

DP World’s new head office is expected to house about 800 staff, the company said, without specifying when it would make the move.

DP World's new head office will be nine storeys high and have a total of 37,300 square metres of space, according to state news agency Wam.

DP World, which runs ports around the world, pledged in 2021 to become a carbon-neutral enterprise by 2040 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

It has also set a target of a 28 per cent reduction in its carbon footprint by 2030.

At the Cop27 summit in Egypt in November 2022, the company pledged to invest up to $500 million to cut carbon emissions from its operations over the next five years.

DP World’s long-term strategy involves electrifying operations and exploring low-carbon fuel use and other solutions such as carbon-neutral synthetic natural gas.

In October, the company raised $1.5 billion in a green sukuk issuance to fund its global decarbonisation projects.

The Islamic bond was oversubscribed 2.3 times amid “strong demand” from global investors and is listed on the Nasdaq Dubai and London Stock Exchange.

Expo City Dubai recently hosted the two-week Cop28 climate conference, which brought in more than 70,000 participants.

“Expo City Dubai is committed to providing an ecosystem for sustainable growth across Dubai’s key sectors, as well as driving meaningful action around some of the greatest challenges of our time,” said Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Co-operation and chief executive of Expo City Dubai Authority.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

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Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

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“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

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The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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