EFG unit, JP Morgan to invest $100m in UAE

UAE-based Emirates Fortune Group's (EFG) real estate advisory arm is in talks with JP Morgan Chase, a global financial services firm, to help it invest $100 million (Dh367m) in the country's property market in 2010, Naser Muheyeldin, the company's Chief Executive said. "They (JP Morgan) are willing to invest $100m this year into income generating assets in the UAE. We are in negotiations with them to facilitate such assets," Muheyeldin told Emirates Business . EFG is a Dubai-based holding investment company with interests in the UAE, UK, US, North Africa, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. JP Morgan Chase, which has more than $14.9 trillion in assets under custody and $5.7trn in assets under administration, declined to comment. Walid Abdel Latif, Managing Director of EFG Real Estate Investment, said: "We are looking to buy freehold properties or will establish a special purpose vehicle company to help them acquire such properties." According to Muheyeldin, fund managers from the UK who plan to invest in the UAE market, are also in talks with them. "They are basically looking for well-planned projects that offer good returns of anywhere between eight per cent and nine per cent." Earlier this month, Matrix Property Middle East, a new venture of UK-based financial services business, said it was launching a property fund with approximately $300m (Dh1.1 billion) in equity. The fund will be investing in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE property markets. Asked if "good" properties were still available in the market, he said: "There are landlords and property owners who are willing to sell their properties as they see opportunities in other sectors. When it comes to real estate, most of them came from different backgrounds and now they are more keen to expand their own businesses. "We are also not looking for buildings that are being rented out to individuals or tenants but for assets that have been leased to international companies with long-term rental commitments or a building that has been rented for three to four years by one major tenant who might be subleasing them." Although property prices in the UAE have declined significantly over the past year, HC Securities, in a recent report, said prices in Dubai recorded strong growth in February, up six per cent month-on-month and another two per cent month-to-date. Rental yields too have been increasing.