Dubai investment firm Istithmar is in talks to buy Asian property assets worth at least US$250 million and expects its real estate portfolio in the region to double in size by the end of this year.

Istithmar, the private equity arm of the Dubai government, said yesterday that the bulk of its new acquisitions in the region would be in North Asia, in particular China.

‘We are looking across a broad range of sectors including residential, offices, hotels and retail,’ Richard Johnson, Istithmar Real Estate’s managing director, said in an interview in Singapore.

Istithmar, one of the big investment firms in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, has a global real estate portfolio valued at US$7 billion to US$8 billion.

About half of its assets are in the US, with the Middle East and Europe accounting for 20 and 15 per cent respectively.

‘We’re expanding the portfolio and looking at how to systematically allocate more investment dollars to emerging markets. Asia has particular priority,’ Mr Johnson said.

He added that about 5 per cent of Istithmar’s global property portfolio is invested in Asia, although the firm has been active in South-east Asia in the last 12 months.

In December, it acquired a 24.99 per cent stake in Thai developer Raimon Land .‘In three years, I hope we will have a range of investments in Japan, China, India and selectively in some South-east Asian economies,’ he said.

Mr Johnson said the firm’s global expansion would be propelled by property development and asset acquisition.

‘We’ll look at development opportunities with partners. The concept of partner-based investment is very important to us,’ he said.

For its expansion in Asia, the firm has so far teamed up with a wide range of developers. For its hotels expansion in India, Istithmar has partnered InterContinental Hotels Group and easyGroup, owner of British low-cost airline easyJet.

Earlier this month, the Dubai firm entered a joint venture with Thai developer Amburaya Resorts to build a luxury hotel on the island of Koh Samui.

Istithmar, which also has a property investment in Macau, took a 9.6 per cent stake in hotels-based CDL Hospitality Trusts shortly after the property trust was spun off by Singapore’s City Developments last July.

Mr Johnson also said Istithmar was mulling a ’significant number’ of transactions around the world this year.

‘We like London and the Greater London market. We will continue to look for opportunity there, primarily for our office-based portfolio,’ he said.

Source: The Business Times, 18 May 2007