GFH Financial Group, the Bahraini Sharia-compliant investment house, is drawing up a development strategy for a 25 million square metre land bank with a US$1.2 billion value, across the GCC, India and Africa that it acquired in August, its chief executive said.
"We are currently negotiating with several parties and hope that over the coming 12 to 18 months we will be able to decide the direction we wish to take and choose the right partner for it within this period," Hisham Al Rayes, chief executive of GFH said.
"This is one of the key land banks in the region, and we are exploring plans to list it, or make strategic partnerships with international parties to have access to those lands."
An appropriate partner, or partners, would be a "real estate developer that needs attractive valuations on land banks to be able to gain strong entry into key markets," Mr Al Rayes said.
The talks at present are with international companies, he added, but GCC developers with plans to expand outside the region may also be interested. "We are looking to create partnerships and maybe exit at a certain point in time, which we expect would achieve huge returns for our shareholders in the medium term."
The land bank is the result of three funds GFH managed before the 2008 financial crash that failed to return 100 per cent of profits to their clients.
____
Read more:
Statement saying GFH Financial Group pulling out of merger talks with Shuaa Capital removed from bourse site
GFH's second quarter net profit soars on exit income
____
“Those three funds were strategic land banks that had huge growth potential pre-2008, but [experienced] a shift in growth prospects due to the economic crisis,” Mr Al Rayes explained.
“So, we took the strategic decision for GFH to acquire the land and aggregate it together to create one of the largest land banks in the region.”
He cited Mohamed Alabbar, the founder of UAE-based developer Emaar Properties, which last month listed its subsidiary Emaar Development on the Dubai index, as having said one of the key advantages a developer can have is a sizeable land bank.
“So we took those scattered land banks and aggregated them under one umbrella to create huge value for real estate companies,” Mr Al Rayes said.
Firming up a strategy for the land bank is likely to take at least a year because of the challenge in finding one partner interested in developing across all the countries it covers.
“It’s a huge portfolio and we may end up breaking it up,” he said.
“Real estate developers are mainly localised. It’s rare that you find a local developer with operations worldwide, because it has to do with local knowledge and so on.”
GFH registered a net profit of $25.09m for the third quarter of 2017 compared to a loss of $7.58m for the same period in 2016, and expects a similar performance for the final quarter and into 2018, the chief executive said.
The investment bank, whose shares are listed in Bahrain, Kuwait and Dubai, is aiming for approval from Saudi Arabia in the first half of next year to cross-list on the Tadawul stock exchange.
“Saudi Arabia is starting with pilot companies cross-listing as it becomes more sophisticated and competitive,” said Mr Al Rayes.
“We satisfy the criteria since we are already in three markets and are familiar with such arrangements. However, there is huge competition for this pilot and I hope we manage to be one of the chosen companies.”
RESULTS
Men – semi-finals
57kg – Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) beat Phuong Xuan Nguyen (VIE) 29-28; Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) by points 30-27.
67kg – Mohammed Mardi (UAE) beat Huong The Nguyen (VIE) by points 30-27; Narin Wonglakhon (THA) v Mojtaba Taravati Aram (IRI) by points 29-28.
60kg – Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Amir Hosein Kaviani (IRI) 30-27; Long Doan Nguyen (VIE) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 29-28
63.5kg – Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Truong Cao Phat (VIE) 30-27; Nouredine Samir (UAE) beat Norapat Khundam (THA) RSC round 3.
71kg – Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ) beat Fawzi Baltagi (LBN) 30-27; Amine El Moatassime (UAE) beat Man Kongsib (THA) 29-28
81kg – Ilyass Hbibali (UAE) beat Alexandr Tsarikov (KAZ) 29-28; Khaled Tarraf (LBN) beat Mustafa Al Tekreeti (IRQ) 30-27
86kg – Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Mohammed Al Qahtani (KSA) RSC round 1; Emil Umayev (KAZ) beat Ahmad Bahman (UAE) TKO round
Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
