HDG Mansur, an investment company with EUR 1.7 bn of property assets, is to sell shares in its Shariah-compliant Al-Umran Global Property Fund (AGPF) on the Dubai International Financial Exchange. The fund will also trade though global depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange. HDG expects the listing to raise a minimum of EUR 300 mln from Middle Eastern and international investors.
HDG Mansur, an investment company with EUR 1.7 bn of property assets, is to sell shares in its Shariah-compliant Al-Umran Global Property Fund (AGPF) on the Dubai International Financial Exchange. The fund will also trade though global depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange. HDG expects the listing to raise a minimum of EUR 300 mln from Middle Eastern and international investors.
Deutsche Bank has been appointed as global coordinator and book-runner for the offering. The initial portfolio will give investors exposure to an existing portfolio of Shariah-compliant property in the US and Western Europe.
HDG said that AGPF will be the first listed Shariah-compliant global real estate company to list on an international exchange. Once fully invested, the fund should have between $1.2-2 bn. It will continue to expand in its current markets in the short-to-medium term. Later it will seek new investments opportunities in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, China, India and other parts of Asia.
It is estimated that investors in the Middle East spent $13 bn on commercial property outside the region last year. 'The growing world-wide demand for Islamic investments gives us real confidence that now is the right time to list the company', said Harold Garrison, chairman of HDG Mansur. His company is a specialist in managing Shariah-compliant investments which excludes interest-based financial constructions. Certain types of business activities are also unacceptable under Islamic law. For instance Shariah-compliant property owners cannot have tenants involved in munitions production or trading, the conventional banking sector, pork products, gambling or pornography.
See the June issue of PropertyEU Magazine for an in-depth look at the growth of Shariah-compliant real estate transactions in Europe. Click on the link below to get your copy now.
