Tuesday, Apr 10, 2012
-- Investors from Europe, Asia and the Middle East expressed interest
-- Building is one of just two at the heart of the DIFC not owned by the centre
(Recasts. Adds comment, detail.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--The Legatum Group, a Dubai-based private investment firm owned by one of New Zealand's wealthiest men, has acquired a nine-level building situated at the heart of Dubai's financial free zone.
Legatum bought the Gate Precinct Building 6 in the Dubai International Financial Centre from an unnamed private investor, according to an emailed statement Tuesday. It didn't disclose the price.
"As one of the first registrants in the DIFC when it was established in 2004, this investment is an expression of Legatum's long-standing belief in the success of Dubai and the DIFC," said Mark Stoleson, Legatum's chief executive.
The property, one of only two buildings at the core of the DIFC's campus that is not owned by the centre itself, was offered selectively to around a dozen potential bidders and about six expressed serious interest, said Gaurav Shivpuri, the head of capital markets at Jones Lang LaSalle in the Middle East and North Africa.
Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate investment and consulting firm, advised the seller.
"We had interest from buyers from Europe, Asia, a lot of regional buyers and Legatum," he said, adding that Legatum paid in cash.
The building, which has 128,000 square feet of space, is to be renamed Legatum Plaza, and Legatum is to move its Dubai office into two of its floors. Legatum's offices are currently in Dubai's Convention Tower, according to its website.
Companies including Swiss investment bank UBS, Japan's Nomura, financial advisory Rothschild and law firm Clifford Chance have offices in Precinct Building 6, Jones Lang LaSalle said in a statement.
Legatum is headed by Christopher Chandler, a reclusive beekeeper's son from New Zealand who is worth around $1 billion, according to Forbes's list of the world's richest people. Chandler is the third-wealthiest Kiwi, the list says, following his brother Richard and Graeme Hart, a packaging magnate.
Legatum was formed in 2006 after Sovereign Global Investment, which the Chandler brothers founded in 1986, was split into two parts. Christopher was to oversee Legatum, while Richard was to handle a new investment company called Orient Global, according to a press release announcing the deal.
-By Asa Fitch, Dow Jones Newswires, +971 4 446-1685, asa.fitch@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-04-12 1113GMT
