Dubai: Dubai’s port and free zone operator DP World said on Wednesday that Saudi’s Hassana Investment Company took a stake of 10.2 per cent in some of its assets in the UAE through a $2.4 billion investment.
Saudi-based Hassana Investment Company (Hassana), the investment manager for the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI) – owns one of the world’s largest pension funds.
The sale of a strategic minority stake follows an earlier transaction in June 2022, when the company sold a 22 per cent minority stake to the Canadian pension fund, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, for $5 billion.
Hassana will invest approximately $2.4 billion in a new joint venture with DP World through which it will hold 10.2 per cent stake in the three UAE assets. “The investment by Hassana implies a total enterprise value of approximately $23 billion for the three assets,” DP World said in a statement.
“Hassana shares our long-term vision for the UAE assets, which have a long and sustained track record of growth and resilience,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. “We believe this new partnership will serve to enhance our assets and allow us to capture the significant growth potential of the wider market.”
“The transaction further strengthens our balance sheet, which, combined with the continued resilience of our business, diversity in our portfolio and focus on supply chain solutions, will support our target of achieving a strong investment-grade rating for the DP World group,” he added.
After this investment, the three assets will remain fully consolidated businesses within the DP World Group, and their day-to-day operations, customers, service providers and employees will not be affected.
“This partnership highlights our focus and strategy to invest in critical infrastructure assets in the region that we believe will deliver long-term sustainable returns,” said Saad bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadly, CEO of Hassana Investment Company. “Favourable demographics and macro-economic drivers and investment in transformational projects will continue to support growth momentum regionally, while trade between the emerging economies of Asia and Africa is also expected to thrive.”
