DUBAI – Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala has sold a 3.5 billion dirham ($953 million) stake in property developer Aldar to an auxiliary firm Alpha Dhabi Holding, the fund provided in a statement on Wednesday.
The auxiliary, Sublime Commercial Investment, acquired a 12.21% strategic stake in Aldar, the statement provided. Mubadala will remain Aldar’s biggest shareholder with 25%, it provided.
“Institutional investor interest in Aldar reflects confidence in the Abu Dhabi real estate sector and Aldar’s central role in implementing the Emirate’s economic diversification strategy,” the statement said.
Two of the sources said that Reuters previously on Wednesday that the fund had sold part of its shares in Aldar.
Trades of 960 million shares, costing 3.5 billion dirhams were made on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Wednesday, exchange data reflects.
The deal was executed by local brokerage firms Internation Securities and ADCB Securities, the statement provided.
Aldar, which developed the Ferrari World theme park, is the largest real estate developer in the emirate.
It gave an offer before this month to buy a stake in Egyptian developer Sodic for about $420 million. It is leading a consortium to purchase a minimum 51% stake.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)