UAE investor Aldar Properties has acquired London-based developer London Square in a £230m (€267m) deal, in its first acquisition outside the Middle East and North Africa.
Founded in 2010, London Square received a £110m investment from Ares Management in 2014 for a majority stake in the company.
London Square is known for developing residential assets across Greater London and the South East of England and has created a development pipeline worth over £2bn.
The company’s divisions comprise private for-sale arm London Square Developments, London Square Partners, set up to work with the public sector, London Square Works, which focuses on developing high-quality space at its mixed-use developments, and London Square Living, a new build-to-rent division, which sources sites and develops them.
The company launched Square Roots an independent provider of affordable housing in 2021.
Apollo Global Management-backed Alder said the transaction is part of its strategy to grow its business by expanding into new markets and diversifying its sources of income. Aldar sees the UK market and London Square as key parts of its international expansion plan.
Talal Al Dhiyebi, group CEO 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.
“The transaction, which is synergistic in nature, gives us the ability to leverage our mutual strengths, shared values, and common approach to homebuilding to scale London Square while bringing the best of Aldar to bear in the UK’s property market, as we continue to build our foothold outside of the region.”
Adam Lawrence, founder and CEO of London Square, said: “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 South East.
“Since establishing London Square in 2010, the company has enjoyed significant organic growth, with the support of Ares Management funds for the past nine years. We would like to thank Ares Management for their contribution to the success of London Square.”
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