MANAMA, 6 April 2008 — Closely following the announcement of a majority sale of the Financial Center to Emar Bahrain, in a deal valuing its shares at over $425 million, Bahrain Financial Harbor Holding Company (BFHHC) yesterday announced another significant sale deal with Investate Realty (Investate).
As per the sale agreement, Investate will buy the plot of land identified as Residential North worth $300 million, which as per the project master plan, is earmarked for housing a key residential component within the $3 billion Bahrain Financial Harbor (BFH) development project. The project will be a mixed residential and retail high-end development adjacent to the proposed Bahrain Performance Center at BFH.
Stephen Rothel, chief executive officer, BFHHC, said: “This significant sale with Investate, which is partnering with Dubai-based Omniyat Properties (Omniyat), one of the largest and most innovative private real estate developers in Dubai through a number of iconic projects that received worldwide acclaim, as its development manager, is important as it not just signifies an alliance with quality partners but also further validates the strong demand for BFH as an asset class. Having successfully sold out the Financial Center and Residential South components of BFH earlier on, this deal with Investate for part of Residential North marks the next significant land parcel sale at BFH, with a few more in the pipeline to be announced soon.
“We are confident that Investate, which is a young and innovative investment company that has one of Bahrain’s most experienced management teams, will execute the Residential North project on time while maintaining the highest levels of quality and without much deviation from the broad development guidelines as set out in the original master plan,” added Rothel.
Investate, which was successfully incorporated in October 2007 reported an impressive profit of $11.1 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2007, offers unique investment opportunities in real estate development.