Business | Property
Emaar quits Algeria as projects stall
Dubai's Emaar Properties has closed its office in Algeria due to a lack of progress on its projects in the North African country, the company said on Saturday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:04 July 4, 2009
Dubai: Dubai's Emaar Properties has closed its office in Algeria due to a lack of progress on its projects in the North African country, the company said on Saturday.
"Emaar created designs for key developments in the country and the master plans were submitted to the authorities for necessary approval," Emaar said in a statement.
"Due to a lack of progress which is beyond the company's control, the office set up to drive these projects forward has now been closed," the company said.
In March 2008, Emaar and the Algerian government signed a protocol accord on the development of $20 billion (Dh73.4 billion) worth of projects, the biggest ever property development in the country of 33 million people.
Some major North African real estate projects have been delayed or quietly abandoned as firms hit by the global downturn retreat from a frontier market dogged by an opaque business environment and heavy bureaucracy.
Emaar Properties is building the world's tallest tower in Dubai where it still derives the bulk of its revenues.
At the end of last year, its US home builder John Laing Homes was forced to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the firm posted a 74 per cent drop in first-quarter profit as the property slump hit sales and deliveries.
As the global downturn took hold, Emaar, along with other Gulf Arab property groups that had unveiled multi-billion-dollar deals in recent years, has been forced to focus on home markets or on foreign investments most likely to generate quick cash.
Emaar did not state whether all of its projects in Algeria had now been cancelled.
However, it did say it was "open to investments in the country in line with its long-term strategy of developing its projects in international markets."
India IPO: Fund raising
Emaar MGF Land Ltd plans to sell shares in an initial public offering to raise about Rs40 billion (Dh3061 million), the Economic Times reported, citing two sources it didn't identify.
The company is considering different fund-raising options and won't comment on any specific plan, the report said, citing an unidentified Emaar MGF executive.
According to the report the property developer has started preliminary discussions to appoint Kotak Mahindra Capital to handle its initial public offering.
- Staff report
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