Deyaar board approves Dh500m settlement offer from Limitless

The board of Dubai developer Deyaar approved a Dh500 million ($136m) settlement offer from Limitless related to a dispute over the purchase of land.

The settlement offer includes both cash and land, Deyaar said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade.

Deyaar’s board “agreed on the settlement, taking into account that any proposed land [has] the necessary infrastructure and master plan approvals from the relevant authorities and that such land [is] to be valued by independent external valuers appointed jointly by the two parties,” the company said.

In 2019, a UAE court ordered Limitless, a Dubai-based developer, to pay Dh411.9m to Deyaar in a dispute related to the purchase of land. The court also ordered Limitless to pay fees as well as compensation of Dh61.1m to Deyaar.

The final draft of the settlement, however, is expected to be ready in the next few months, according to Deyaar.

“Once the final draft of the settlement is ready, the company will submit a request to the Securities and Commodities Authority in order to hold a general assembly meeting to present the settlement to the shareholders for discussion and approval through a special resolution,” Deyaar said.

Deyaar also said the acquisition of land will contribute to the expansion of its property portfolio and will enable it to study developing new projects.

Established in 2005, Limitless, a sister company of Nakheel, the developer behind The Palm, was involved in planning large-scale, mixed-use communities and waterfront developments, according to its website.

Deyaar, on the other hand, is one of the larger listed real estate companies in Dubai and is currently building Midtown at Dubai Production City with an investment of Dh2.6 billion. Dubai Islamic Bank is its biggest shareholder, with a 40.98 per cent stake.

The company reported a more than five-fold jump in its first-quarter profit as revenue increased on project delivery.

Net income for the first three months of the year climbed to Dh15.1m, while revenue rose 51 per cent during the period.

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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.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

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.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“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.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

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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