Dubai’s Emaar Properties plans to launch an offer to buy the stake it does not already own in its construction arm Emaar Development, it said on Wednesday, in a potential deal worth as much as $3.43 billion.
The move comes after a change of ownership earlier this year at Emaar Properties, the developer of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and as the region deals with the turmoil of the US-Iran war.
Emaar Properties, which owns just over 79% of Emaar Development, plans to offer 15 dirhams per share for the outstanding stake under a voluntary cash offer, it said in a filing.
That would give the firm a valuation of 60 billion dirhams ($16.34 billion), according to LSEG data.
The offer represents a premium to Emaar Development’s share price of 13.9 dirhams at closing on Tuesday. The stock, which has fallen more than 8% so far this year, was up 5.3% at 14.64 dirhams by 0630 GMT, nearing the offer price.
REAL ESTATE FACES CHALLENGES FROM REGIONAL WAR
While business in the Gulf’s tourism hub, Dubai, has largely resumed after disruptions linked to the war, recovery in sectors such as hospitality could take longer.
Emaar’s founder and chair Mohamed Alabbar told Reuters in September that he expected an average 5% fall in real estate prices in Dubai this year as a result of the conflict, adding that while sales were lower than pre-war levels, he was confident in the market, which showed signs of resilience.
The number of real estate projects completed in Dubai rose 39% during the first half of 2026, the UAE state news agency reported, citing the Dubai Land Department.
Dubai Holding, an investment conglomerate owned by the emirate’s ruler, became Emaar’s largest shareholder with around a 30% stake after the emirate’s wealth fund ICD transferred its entire stake in the developer to a Dubai Holding subsidiary.
Emaar did not say whether it planned to delist its construction arm from the Dubai Financial Market after the offer. Emaar Development shares are still trading well below their all-time high of 20 dirhams per share in February this year, before the war started.
Jefferies analysts said in a note on Tuesday that a deal could increase Emaar’s “exposure to a premium cash-rich asset” still yielding over 9%.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)
Reuters
