Dubai: Brookfield Asset Management and Investment Corp. of Dubai are exploring the possibility of selling a stake in the ICD Brookfield Place skyscraper amid a surge in demand for top-tier office space, people familiar with the matter said.
State-owned investment firm ICD and Brookfield have sent investment banks request for proposals in relation to a stake sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. The plan is in its early stages and could still change, they said.
A representative for Brookfield declined to comment, while ICD did not respond to a request for comment.
The sale talks come amid a rebound in the emirate’s property market, which has benefited from an influx of newcomers and sent real estate prices and rents soaring. Office rents in Dubai are rising faster than in New York and London since last year as banks and businesses expand into the financial hub.
ICD Brookfield Place is an equally-owned joint venture partnership between ICD and Brookfield Asset Management. The tower, which rises more than 900 feet (283 meters) over the city’s financial district, opened just as the pandemic spread globally.
Its tenants now include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and JPMorgan. Roughly 95 per cent of its 1.1 million square feet of office and retail space is now taken or under offer, with a long waitlist for the rest.
