Emaar raises $1bn financing backed by Dubai Mall

Emaar Properties, the UAE’s biggest developer by market value, said Monday it had signed a financing facility valued at AED3.6bn ($1bn) secured by its flagship Dubai Mall. The developer of the world’s tallest tower said the two-tranche facility, which spans both Islamic and conventional funding, is split between a five-year tranche and an eight-year amortising loan. The facility carries a margin of 350 basis points. The loan will initially be used to repay Emaar’s existing $300m facility taken out in 2010, the company said in an emailed statement on Monday. Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar said the financial climate “offers a strong opportunity for forward-looking organisations to strengthen their reserves and structure long-term growth plans.” The facility was arranged by Dubai Islamic Bank, Standard Chartered and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Emaar said. Dubai’s property market went from being one of the world’s best performing to the worst following the global credit crisis three years ago, with home prices slumping 64 percent since the mid-2008 peak, according to Deutsche Bank estimates. Emaar has been hurt by the downturn but avoided debt restructuring, unlike Nakheel, the builder of man-made islands off Dubai’s coast. The company reported a 34 percent decline in third- quarter profit on Oct 27 as revenue dropped and property deliveries slowed. Chairman Mohamed Alabbar told Arabian Business last month the company was in talks with several UAE emirates to roll out affordable housing schemes and plans to concentrate on Dubai first. Despite a housing market that is widely seen as being oversupplied, Alabbar said Dubai still has room for properties at a price point of around AED500,000 (about $136,000).