Dubai's Limitless set to enter Europe

Limitless, the real estate development arm of the government of Dubai, has set its sights on Europe as local developers and property companies struggle with liquidity squeezes and increasing lending costs. Cameron Mana, head of Limitless’ European business, said at the EXPO REAL fair in Munich that he is in the process of relocating to London from Dubai to lead a five-strong team.

‘We have identified Europe as one of our core markets in Limitless' new strategic plan. We are a very well-funded organisation, which will allow us to deliver our vision in Europe,’ he said on the back of a sustainability conference. ‘We expect to enter Europe with a big project in the next 12 to 24 months,’ he added.

Limitless currently has 11 projects worldwide with an expected value on completion of $110 bn. The company has recently opened offices in Moscow, London and Warsaw. ‘We are initially focussing on the UK, Poland and Russia but Southern Europe and the CIS states are also very interesting markets for us.’ Mana said that Limitless is currently looking at several projects in the UK, two projects in Italy and a few others in Poland.

Last week, Limitless withdrew its 160pence per share offer for UK real estate developer Minerva as the company was not able to obtain the 'necessary third-party consents on terms satisfactory to Limitless'. The developer is also in talks with Italian builder Risanamento to acquire the Milano Santa Giulia and Falck projects in the Northern city of Milan.

In 2007 Limitless announced plans to develop a new city on 18,000 hectares of land near Moscow. The Khimky development, Limitless’ first in Russia, will be carried out in partnership with Russian developer RDI. The project is expected to involve costs of $11 bn.