The planned flotation of Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG)’s new real estate investment trust (Reit) has been postponed to the first half of 2018 from this year, pending regulatory processes, one of its key advisors said.
ADFG, an alternative investment company with US$5 billion in assets, said in April it planned to float the sharia-compliant Etihad Reit by the end of this year.
The company said in a statement that it had set up the Reit with a seed portfolio of 10 properties, with Abu Dhabi-based property developer Eshraq Properties as one of its founding shareholders.
However, Fawad Tariq Khan, general manager of Dubai-listed investment bank Shuaa Capital, which is advising ADFG on Etihad Reit, said the listing had been delayed.
"We are now looking at the first half of 2018 for the flotation while we go through regulatory processes with exchanges," Mr Khan said in an interview with The National.
Etihad Reit would be the first Reit domiciled in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial free zone to list in the UAE, but regulatory processes with exchanges were taking longer than expected, he said.
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The Reit, which contains $700m of income-producing assets, is “fully functioning and already yielding dividends”, Mr Khan said.
An established vehicle in the US, Europe and Asia, Reits are a type of publicly listed fund that typically own income-producing commercial real estate and are legally obliged to distribute a proportion of their income, usually 80 or 90 percent, as dividends to shareholders.
The investment instruments are gaining popularity in the Gulf as investors seek more liquid real estate assets than standalone buildings. The largest Reit in the UAE, Emirates Reit, which is owned by Dubai-based fund manager Equitativa, has more than $1bn of real estate assets under management.
Etihad Reit is a mixed-use portfolio, ADFG said, whose initial 10 properties are located across the UAE and have an average occupancy level of over 90 percent.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
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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
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
match details
Wales v Hungary
Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm
Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
