UAE company Damac Properties has made a $20 billion investment in the US to build data centres, president-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday. Hussain Sajwani, founder and chairman of the Dubai-based real estate developer, said it could increase its investment under the right market conditions.
“We’ve been waiting four years to increase our investments in the US to a very large amount of money,” Mr Sajwani said alongside Mr Trump in Palm Beach, Florida. He said the investment would go towards data centres that cater to artificial intelligence and cloud businesses.
Mr Trump said the first phase of the project will be carried out in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. “The investment will support massive new data centres across the Midwest, the Sun Belt area, and also to keep America on the cutting edge of technology,” he said.
The US investment follows similar investments the group has recently made in Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
“[Mr Sajwani] has done sterling work in helping promote the US-UAE business and trade relationship and this new deal underscores his interest in advancing his work … particularly in these data centres,” Danny Sebright, president of the US-UAE Business Council in Washington, told The National.
In February, Damac’s digital unit Edgnex Data Centres linked up with British telecoms operator Vodafone to invest $100 million in a project in Turkey. The data centre, which will be built in Turkey's third most populous city of Izmir, will have a capacity of six megawatts and is expected to be completed by 2025,
Demand for data centre infrastructure grew during the coronavirus pandemic as companies moved their business to the cloud in response to the disruption caused by Covid-19.
Last year, Damac launched about 12,000 new home units and plans to introduce a similar number this year. In December, the company launched Damac Islands development at Dubailand and sold more than 3,000 units in less than 10 hours, with sales totalling Dh10 billion ($2.72 billion), according to the company.
Tuesday's announcement is the latest major foreign investment into the US after Mr Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son last month announced the Japanese company would invest $100 billion in US projects over the next four years.
Mr Trump has said both investments were made because businesses approved of his election win.
“He was very inspired by the election. They wouldn't do it without that election. I can tell you a lot of people wouldn't,” the president-elect said of Mr Sajwani.
Trump Organisation ties
The Emirati businessman has a close relationship with Mr Trump. A Trump-branded golf club in Dubai under Damac was also opened before Mr Trump left office in 2017. It is the Middle East's only Trump-branded golf course.
“He is a well-respected business partner of Mr Trump,” Mr Sebright said. Now, the company is again open to work with the Trump Organisation on new projects.
“If the right opportunity presents itself, we are more than happy to work with our all trusted partners, whether it is the Trump Organisation or any other partner,” Ali Sajwani, managing director of Damac Properties, told The National in December.
The Trump Organisation, owned by the president-elect, is also teaming up with London listed Dar Global to develop projects in Oman, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Eric Trump, one of Mr Trump's sons and the organisation's executive vice president, said the company is also hoping to further expand into the region with new projects.
Founded in 2002, Damac Properties was listed on the Dubai Financial Market in January 2015. However, in March 2022, the company was delisted and converted back into a private entity.
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Company%C2%A0profile
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
