Dubai: Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), a state-owned holding company of some of the emirate’s biggest firms, said on Wednesday that it has acquired stakes in three international hotels for an undisclosed sum.

Dubai’s main investment arm bought the W Hotel in Washington, a majority stake in New York’s Mandarin Oriental and a minority stake in the One&Only in Cape Town in a bid to “expand the reach and expertise of Dubai in a sector considered integral to the growth of the emirate and its economy,” it said in a statement.

ICD has holdings in some of the emirate’s top firms, such as Emirates airline and Emaar Properties.

“Building on our strong domestic growth in the hospitality and tourism sector, this strategic move reinforces ICD as a serious contender in the global luxury hospitality space,” said Mohammed Al Shaibani, executive director and chief executive of ICD, in the statement.

The corporation could not be reached by deadline for further comments.

Mat Green, head of research for the UAE at property consultancy, CBRE Middle East, said by phone that sovereign wealth funds in the UAE have a big appetite for luxury hospitality assets in international markets.

“There are significant investments from this region going into these core cities … the euro has dropped against the dollar by around 20 per cent in the last 7 months, so at the moment it is a good time to be purchasing with dollar pegged currencies,” he said.

The euro has weakened against the dollar by 20 per cent since April 2014, and on Wednesday it was trading at 1.09 to the dollar.

Al Shaibani said that ICD will look for “similar additions to its portfolio in the future.” In 2013, it bought the Atlantis hotel on Palm Jumeirah from Istithmar World, a unit of state-owned Dubai World.

A year later, it acquired an equity interest in Kerzner International Holdings Limited, the operator of the One&Only, Atlantis and Mazagan brands, and announced plans for a $1.5 billion Royal Atlantis Resort and Residences.

Scheduled for completion by 2018, the Royal Atlantis Resort and Residences will be located on the crescent of the Palm, next to the Atlantis hotel. Al Shaibani said that the investment reaffirms ICD’s commitment to support the long-term growth of the domestic hospitality market.

One Za’abeel, another ICD project, is estimated to cost Dh2.5 billion, and will include 550 residential units, two hotels and 130 hotel apartments. It will be located between the Dubai World Trade Centre and Za’abeel Park.