Matrix to close $300m GCC realty fund by year end

Matrix Property Middle East, a joint venture between UK-based financial services firm Matrix and Qatari firm ME Alignment, is planning to close its $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) GCC-wide property fund by year-end, Emirates 24|7 can reveal.
 
“We expect to close the five-year fund by end of the year. We are currently talking to major Qatari institutions who are showing strong interest,” said Will Hean, General Manager & Investment Director, Matrix Property Middle East.
 
The company is now fully regulated under Qatar Finance Centre law and will the to launch a first real estate fund from the centre.
 
“As the fund and fund management business have only just been regulated we have not been allowed to market it until recently,” he added.
 
The five-year close-ended fund will look to commence acquisition of high-yielding income producing assets that offer good capital growth after Ramadan. The company had announced plans to launch the fund in March last year and was looking to start asset acquisition by second half of 2010.
 
Matrix has already commenced talks with a number of companies in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

Asked about investment in the UAE property market, Hean said: “We are looking to buy property in Dubai and the UAE, but these will be on long leases to good covenants where the sectors are underpinned by strong demand and a lack of good quality supply.”
 
He added: “We see good investment opportunities in the free zone industrial areas and Downtown Burj, but we won‘t target distressed assets. We will also be scouting for opportunities in non-freehold area.”
 
The fund is targeting to offer a net return of 15 per cent.
 
According to Hean, the company is planning to focus more on the logistics sector in future both in Dubai and in Saudi Arabia.
 
“We are very keen on the logistics sector and may look to set up a specific fund for this in due course as there is good tenant demand in this sector especially in Dubai where investors like and understand the regional hub characteristics,” he added.

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