Abu Dhabi investors are providing as much as half of the capital for a US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) fund targeting well-known golf courses around the world, says the chief of the company behind the investment plan. Marc Player, the chief executive of The Gary Player Group, said the company was seeking private and institutional investors, and had raised $500 million from investors based in the emirate.
The group's fund is seeking to acquire "iconic resorts where there are existing hotel, residential, golf amenities that have been over-capitalised", said Mr Player, the eldest son of the veteran South African golf star Gary Player. Property developers across the Gulf have spent billions of dollars building golf resorts branded by top players including Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Colin Montgomerie. But the decline in property prices has sapped investor demand.
"We see this as a perfect storm," said Mr Player, speaking on the sidelines of the KPMG Golf Business Forum in Belek, Turkey. "There may not be a lot of guys hiring us to design golf courses but maybe we can acquire the ones that are distressed." Giovanni Gregoratti, the director of Citi Real Estate and Lodging Group, said there were a number of golf properties that had strong fundamentals but could not be funded in the current economic climate.
"Smart investors will plug those holes," Mr Gregoratti said. Gary Player designed the Saadiyat Beach golf course that opened this year in Abu Dhabi. Gary Player Design has been appointed to design several golf projects in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere in the Gulf, including Dubai and Qatar, which have yet to be announced, Mr Player said. The fund is in discussions with the owners of courses that include Dubai World's Turnberry Resort in Scotland and the Sea Island resort in Georgia.
The Turnberry Resort, which hosted last year's British Open, is owned by the Dubai World unit Istithmar. It also owns the Pearl Valley Signature Golf Estate and Spa, a 170-hectare championship golf course development in the Cape Winelands region of South Africa. Analysts said there were good opportunities for cash-rich investors to step in and buy golf resorts that the current owners were struggling to fund.
"I think it's a major opportunity and it's the right timing," said Andrea Sartori, a partner at KPMG property, leisure and tourism advisory services. "This economic situation provides quite a few opportunities for the development of funds which are going to focus either on the development of golf courses, or more on the acquisition of distressed assets." Mr Sartori said some might also choose to buy stand-alone courses.
"It's not necessarily only in the high-end market. There are also opportunities in the mid-scale sector as well." He added that prices for golf assets now available were particularly attractive. "Prices are relatively depressed at the moment. It doesn't mean necessarily that those assets are distressed assets." rbundhun@thenational.ae
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
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
The years Ramadan fell in May
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
