Deyaar Development will next week begin raising Dh300 million (US$81.6mn) as part of a fund to buy distressed properties. The company already has commitments from a mix of local and overseas investors for Dh200m towards the fund, which will be used to buy back distressed properties from Deyaar's own portfolio as well as other properties with high expected returns. The full fund is expected to be ready by the end of the year.
"Now is a wonderful opportunity for developers to take back good assets, hold onto them for two to three years and then sell them back to the market," said Markus Giebel, the chief executive of Deyaar. "If we try and sell them now for cheaper, then we will destabilise the market." Mr Giebel added that now was also a good time for developers to branch out into international markets, adding that Deyaar was close to finalising a deal for a project in Lebanon. The company has also identified potential deals in Saudi Arabia and India as well as "higher risk" countries such as Iraq. agiuffrida@thenational.ae
