Abu Dhabi's Aabar Raises Stake In Arabtec Holding To 21.57%

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

(This story was originally published Tuesday.)

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Aabar Investments has raised its stake in Arabtec Holding (ARTC.DFM) to 21.57%, according to a bourse filing.

The Dubai-based company last week said Aabar and its units totally held a 20.76% stake in the company as on May 10, while denying media reports at the time that the Abu Dhabi-based firm owned a 53% stake in the construction firm. Aabar had scrapped a deal in 2010 to take a majority stake in Arabtec.

Greg Christofides, Arabtec Construction's chief executive officer, said Monday Aabar's stake hike "is a vote of confidence not just for Arabtec but for the construction market." The company is a subsidiary of Arabtec Holding.

Aabar Real Estate holds a 5.18% stake in Arabtec, a Dubai bourse filing showed, while Aabar Petroleum Investments LLC owns a 5.32% stake, Aabar Energy has a 5.84% stake and Aabar Petroleum Investments owns a 5.23% stake in the construction firm.

The bourse discloses the names of all shareholders owning a stake of 5% and above in a company.

Arabtec shares last traded up 0.4% at AED2.91 Tuesday.

-By Nikhil Lohade, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1694; nikhil.lohade@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

23-05-12 0351GMT