An unnamed investment firm owned by Hussain Sajwani, founder and CEO of Dubai-based developer Damac, has exchanged contracts to acquire the so-called Jenga tower project in London's Nine Elms district.
An unnamed investment firm owned by Hussain Sajwani, founder and CEO of Dubai-based developer Damac, has exchanged contracts to acquire the so-called Jenga tower project in London's Nine Elms district.
The scheme was put up for sale by a joint venture between Citygrove and McLaren.
The transaction, which is expected to close shortly, is believed to be valued at around £600 (€820 mln).
Damac, which specialises in building luxury towers, said it is considering taking an equity position in the London project at cost value. The deal would be the first by the Middle Eastern developer in the UK market.
'Damac’s expansion strategy is to target international markets that are customer-led and where the company has existing equity with customers who would be interested in these markets,' Damac said in a statement.
'Damac is continuously looking at global opportunities where the Damac brand can add value and these are evaluated on a case-by-case basis,' it added. Sajwani, who is carrying out the acquisition, is founder and CEO of Damac as well as the owner of a 79.44% interest in the company.
The Jenga site has planning permission in place for a 50-storey mixed-use tower comprising 685,000 sq ft (63,600 m2) across 450 residential units, 35,700 sq ft of offices and 7,800 sq ft of retail.