Abu Dhabi Aldar Board to Discuss Sale of Some Assets, Projects This Month - Bloomberg

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Abu Dhabi Aldar Board to Discuss Sale of Some Assets, Projects This Month
By Zainab Fattah - Dec 26, 2011

Aldar Properties PJSC (ALDAR)s board will meet to discuss the sale of some assets later this month as the emirates biggest real estate company searches for funding to cope with waning demand for property. The shares fell for the first time in three days. The developer said its board will meet on Dec. 28 to discuss the sale of the unspecified assets and will also tackle operational matters relating to the company and its projects, according to a statement to Abu Dhabis bourse. Most likely these assets will be sold to Abu Dhabis government as the company completes implementing the rescue plan announced earlier this year, said Mohammed Ali Yasin, chief investment officer at Capm Investment PJSC in Abu Dhabi. The plan is being implemented in stages and this could be simply the finalization of it before year-end. Aldar was hurt when property values and rents slumped in the United Arab Emirates after banks curtailed lending and speculators pulled out due to the global credit crunch. Home prices in Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E. capital, may drop 30 percent more after declining as much as 55 percent from the markets peak in mid-2008, according to Dubai-based Rasmala Investment Bank Ltd. Aldars Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak declined to comment today when asked if the government was the party interested in buying Aldars assets. Aldar, which is building thousands of homes and offices on Abu Dhabis Al Raha Beach and Yas Island, agreed in January to sell assets including a Ferrari theme park and convertible bonds to the Abu Dhabi government for 19.2 billion dirhams ($5.2 billion) to pay creditors. On Dec. 15, Aldar said it will convert 2.1 billion dirhams worth of bonds issued to Mubadala Development Co. under the plan into shares at 1.75 dirhams each. The shares fell 3.5 percent to 82 fils at 1:13 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. They have slumped 64 percent in the past 12 months. To contact the reporter on this story: Zainab Fattah in Dubai at zfattah@bloomberg.net

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Abu Dhabi Aldar Board to Discuss Sale of Some Assets, Projects This Month - Bloomberg

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