You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
UAE-based developer buys up London firm in £230m deal
A £10bn developer listed on the stock exchange in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has bought a London-based house builder in a deal worth £230m.
Aldar Properties has snapped up London Square in a multimillion-pound acquisition that marks the firm’s first deal outside of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Aldar is the largest real estate group in Abu Dhabi and one of the largest in the MENA.
Aldar, which is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, said the deal is aligned with its strategic vision of “expanding into key and mature international markets”.
London Square had recently announced the acquisition of a 550-home site in south-east London for a £180m housing scheme.
This latest deal was struck between the firms as they believe there is “a shared vision and approach to creating world-class developments, anchored in high-quality design, sustainability and customer service excellence”.
READ MORE
It is expected the acquisition will drive a new phase of growth for both firms.
Aldar intends to leverage its expertise and balance sheet to support London Square’s land acquisition strategy to enable it to develop larger and prime central London sites.
Additionally, the transaction is expected to have a positive impact on sales. Aldar’s development sales during the first nine months of 2023 totalled £4.15bn.
Talal Al Dhiyebi, group chief executive officer of Aldar Properties, said: “Our recently announced international expansion strategy centres on exploring opportunities to acquire or partner with established operating platforms in our target markets.
“The acquisition of London Square represents our first market entry outside of the region, and is a testament to the company’s management team, governance framework and business model which has consistently delivered strong performance.”
Aldar hopes to make use of London Square’s track record of securing planning consent and experience in delivering complex brownfield sites and building homes across all tenures.
Adam Lawrence, founder and chief executive of London Square, said: “This is an outstanding outcome for London Square. Aldar is an exemplary company with an unrivalled reputation and their strength and breadth of knowledge and experience will enable London Square to flourish and extend its presence across Greater London and the Southeast.”
Mr Lawrence said he looked forward to this new chapter for his firm as it works to tackle the housing shortage to deliver more much-needed homes across London.
London Square launched its own affordable housing arm, Square Roots, in January 2021.
Sign up for our development and finance newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
