IslamicFinance.de

London-based Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the acquisition of Fountainbridge, a student accommodation property located in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, from Rockspring Property Investment Managers LLP UK Value fund for £20.0 million. The property is a modern, purpose-built student accommodation asset with a total of 331 bedrooms, centrally located to the University of Edinburgh, Herriot-Watt, Napier and Queen Margaret universities. The investment follows the firm's successful realisation of four investments comprising over 1,600 beds with a combined value in excess of £100 million, completed last year. The firm is currently considering other investments in the UK student accommodation sector.

Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the completion of terms to provide £17.92 million of senior financing following the recent acquisition of a UK industrial estate by Saudi Arabia's SEDCO Capital. Palmer Capital is acting as the Investment Manager to SEDCO Capital which through this venture intends to deploy £100 million into UK real estate over the next 12 months through this venture. This transaction is the first such transaction for this programme, which will target the recovering office and industrial real estate market in the UK. The funding supports the acquisition of Blakelands Industrial Estate, an industrial estate in Milton Keynes.

Johor Corp (JCorp), a Malaysian state-owned firm, plans to list an Islamic real estate investment trust (Reit) holding MR900m ($253.22m) in assets by the third quarter of this year.

Bahrain-based Tadhamon Capital BSC has announced its successful exit from Paris Gardens - its first investment in a Central London student accommodation property. The sale of the property saw investors of Tadhamon Capital achieve more than 70 per cent return on their invested capital within a 30 month period. Since completion in the summer of 2013, the property has generated a stable net income of 8 per cent to investors. The sale of the property generated an IRR in excess of 25 per cent. Simultaneously, Tadhamon Capital has entered into a JV agreement for the development of a new, high-quality student accommodation, located at the centre of Kingston-Upon-Thames (South London).

Gatehouse Bank has appointed David Swan in a newly-created role as head of real estate investment. Swan will lead the firm’s real estate investment department in the origination, management and realisation of real estate equity investments. Gatehouse currently advises funds with approximately £1bn assets in the UK and US. The business is focused on diversifying its investment capabilities and expanding the geographical footprint of its portfolio. Swan has more than two decades of experience in the real estate investment sector. Prior to Gatehouse, he founded Bridgeport Real Estate in 2012, a real estate company advising investors on a range of large scale off-market transactions.

Sabana Shariah Compliant REIT (SGX: M1GU) has released its full-year earnings for 2014 recently. The REIT focuses on industrial properties scattered around Singapore which are collectively worth around S$1.26 billion as at 31 December 2014. Despite seeing gross revenue for the whole of 2014 grow by 12.1% to S$100.3 million from a year ago, the trust’s net property income (NPI) actually declined by 9.2% to S$72.95 million. The decline was partly due to a huge 200% increase in property expenses for the trust. Income available for distribution to Sabana REIT’s unitholders followed suit with a 16.4% drop to S$51.6 million.

Alkhabeer Capital has signed a strategic agreement with Alareen Holding Company, Saudi Arabia-based real estate development company, to get exposure to the Saudi residential development market. Saudi Arabia will need significant supply of new housing projects in order to keep pace with the growing population. Due to the growing young population, the rapidly declining household sizes and evolving Saudi lifestyle, demand for residential units is expected to remain healthy across the Kingdom, according to Ahmad S. Ghouth, Deputy CEO at Alkhabeer Capital. The cooperation with Alareen enables Alkhabeer to access the growth potential,

The latest quarterly report issued by the real estate consultancy arm of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) - MPM Properties - highlights value growth across all sectors of Abu Dhabi's real estate market during 2014. Government initiatives to stimulate job growth and enhance market sentiment, fuelled in part by a knock on effect from the Expo 2020 win, provided healthy demand across all asset classes. Residential apartment values within the designated Investment Areas demonstrated strong capital appreciation during 2014. MPM Properties research shows capital value growth ranging from 11% to 35% with an overall average increase of 21.6%.

In most of Europe, rental-apartment ownership is fragmented. That is beginning to change. In the U.K., France and Spain, institutions are accumulating multifamily properties. The fledgling industry in Europe is being powered by demographic changes, strong real-estate sales, opportunities created by the financial downturn and government actions designed to encourage development. One sign of growth: foreign investment. Legal changes also are paving the way. Meanwhile, the political winds are also changing when it comes to the multifamily sector.

Muslims in Nigeria have canvassed a good government policy that would promote affordable housing for the citizenry.ome group of Muslim businessmen and other professionals who gathered at the 2014 National Conference organised by The Companion, in Ibadan recently, advised Muslim organizations to join hands in tackling their peculiar challenges and assist members to secure affordable shelters. The gathering resolved that Nigeria’s massive housing deficit may further degenerate until governments and real estate private developers turn their focus to mass housing as a sector priority rather than the present proliferation of luxury estates.

An unnamed US investment manager has committed $100m (€80.4m) to a Sharia-compliant mezzanine real estate fund managed by Gatehouse Bank. The closed-end fund, which will invest in western European financings, is the first mezzanine product to comply with Sharia principles. Gatehouse will source, arrange and structure loans up to 85% loan-to-value over the next 18 months. The main principle of Sharia investment involves avoiding assets where more than 10% of the property involves the sale of alcohol, pork or tobacco. With three to five-year terms, the loans are expected to generate net IRRs of between 6% and 10%.

Saudi Arabia's Jadwa Investment says it is planning to invest in domestic real estate as it expands into new asset classes, hoping to cash in on booming demand for new homes. Tariq al-Sudairy, managing director and CEO of Jadwa, said the group will focus on the asset class and target major cities like Riyadh, Mecca, Madina. Jadwa would partner with real estate developers to select and execute projects on behalf of clients. Funds would be set up as projects were selected and the size of the investment would be determined on a case-by-case basis. Sudairy said private equity in the kingdom offered significant potential as well. Jadwa itself hopes to seal an unspecified deal as early as the first quarter of 2015.

Gatehouse Bank has announced the closure of its first offshore real estate financing in St Helier, Jersey. The Bank provided £10 million of senior financing to Apache Capital Partners, for the acquisition of Mourant Ozannes’ HQ offices, a offshore law firm. Apache Capital Partners, a niche Real Estate and Private Equity Investment Management Firm, specialises in investing capital from the Middle East into the UK. Given this client base, the company has offices in both London and Bahrain and currently has an approximate total of £340 million assets under management.

R Hotels is to develop the first sharia-compliant, four-star resort and spa on Palm Jumeirah, with the company targeting a Q4 2016 opening following AED500 million (US $136.2 million) of investment. Located on the East Crescent of the man-made island, the hotel will be the sixth property for R Hotels, the hospitality management division of R Holding. No operator has been confirmed yet, although a spokesperson said that it will be an international hotel brand. Aimed at leisure travellers, iIt will feature 259 rooms, modern recreational facilities and family-friendly entertainment. Besides, R Hotels is currently developing a hotel on Al Mina Road in Jumeirah, expected to open in the second quarter of 2015.

The IREF Summit 2014 will be taking place on the 16th-17th December 2014 in London. The theme 'Real Estate - The Asset Class of 2014 & Beyond: Sustainability & Innovation in an Ever-Changing Global Real Estate Market', is gathering speakers from the UK, Middle East & Asia. The session themes are focused and aimed at providing a platform to discourse the pertinent current themes and trends marking the sector, with a particular emphasis on the Islamic real estate finance market segment. On the evening of the first day of the IREF Summit, ICG will once again host the 2014 IREF ME Gala Dinner Awards Ceremony. For further information on the Summit, how to nominate and attend the Gala Dinner Awards Ceremony, please visit www.irefsummit.co.uk or contact info@icg-events.com.

GFH Capital has signed an agreement to sell a $25 million prime property in one of London's most prestigious postcodes. The investment firm said it has sold the Queen’s Gate Gardens property that it had acquired last year. The property is a Grade II listed building located in the prime Kensington area of London overlooking the gardens. According to the terms of the agreement, the buyer has paid an initial deposit with a target to complete the transaction in six weeks, subject to receiving relevant approvals. GFH Capital said investors in the deal can expect to make a return that can reach 21 percent return per annum. The deal is expected to positively reflect in the Q4 financial results of GFH.

HDG Mansur is on the ropes, with numerous affiliated companies in bankruptcy, and its principal Harold Garrison himself sought personal bankruptcy last month. Worse Garrison and HDG Mansur are the subjects of a federal criminal investigation into whether they took $5.8 million from a client. Those plaintiffs, two Cayman Islands-based funds, aren’t alone in howling fraud. A year ago, KFH Capital Investment Co. and Kuwait Finance House Real Estate Co. filed a lawsuit in the United Kingdom accusing Garrison and HDG Mansur of misappropriating more than $11 million in connection with a failed development called Finzels Reach in Bristol, England. The court did not go along with a push by creditors to convert the bankruptcy of the HDG Mansur companies from Chapter 11 reorganizations to Chapter 7 liquidations.

A rapid rise of young population in the GCC is causing a surge in demand for housing that could lead to a massive shortage. There could be a scarcity of more than one million units by 2018, reveals a study by management consultancy Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company), and governments need to pursue more holistic policies to better meet people’s housing needs. Governments should drive sustainable development, promote public-private partnerships, establish prudent real estate laws and facilitate greater access to housing finance to revitalise the sector, the study adds. GCC countries are currently experiencing a shortage of housing, particularly for their large and growing populations of low-income residents.

Gulf Finance House has announced the acquisition of two multi-family residential properties in Houston, Texas, as part of the Diversified US Residential Portfolio, which the bank has recently agreed to acquire. The properties — located in Houston, and Atlanta — have an overall occupancy of 94 per cent, and nearly 1,300 apartments. They have been selected due to their proximity to the large infrastructure assets in the cities, and are expected to benefit from the economic recovery in the US. The total size of the assets is $75 million (Dh275.4 million).

Deyaar Development is planning to build a Sharia-compliant hotel and furnished apartment tower in the Al Barsha area of Dubai. The company confirmed the project, estimated to cost around AED450 million (US $123 million). Deyaar owns two adjacent plots of land in Al Barsha spanning a total of 71,000 square feet. The project is in the preliminary design stage. Earlier this week, Deyaar launched a new project in Dubai called Montrose, featuring a hotel apartment tower and two residential towers. In March, the company said it had allotted up to one million square feet for hotel and serviced apartment projects in prime locations in the city in the coming years.