Kuwait’s sovereign fund buys Standard Chartered Dubai tower

Dubai: Kuwait Investment Authority, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, bought the Standard Chartered Plc tower in Dubai’s downtown district, signalling investor demand for income-generating assets continues even as oil declines and political tensions mount.

The 13-storey building sold for about Dh650 million, Jim Osborne, a founding partner of developer Gulf Resources Development & Investment, said in a phone interview on Thursday. Calls and e-mails to the KIA and Standard Chartered weren’t returned.

The building was among the first commercial towers to be erected in Dubai in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Before then, most developers sold office buildings to multiple owners, often with a different owner for each floor. Companies shunned those buildings and some started teaming up with developers to build suitable towers.

London-based Standard Chartered in 2011 said it was leasing eight of the 13 floors for at least 15 years. Oil company BP Plc and law firm DLA Piper LLP also have offices in the tower, Osborne said.

The Kuwait Investment Authority will be garnering around 6.5 per cent rental yield, Osborne said. He declined to specify the cost of building the tower and the return GRDI achieved from the sale.