Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has provided $87 million to help finance two deals in the United Kingdom that are valued more than $200 million.
The bank said that it had provided a Shariah-compliant structured financing to a client in Abu Dhabi to refinance a prime central London healthcare facility worth 900 million UAE dirhams ($245 million), as well as to a Bahrain-based company to acquire a logistics hub in Edinburgh worth 55 million UAE dirhams ($15 million).
The London property is operated by an international healthcare group, the bank said in a statement, without disclosing the name of the group. The Edinburgh property, let to Royal Mail, consists of an office facility and a distribution warehouse situated in Scotland.
“We expect to witness good growth in our real estate financing business in the UK during 2020, said Paul Maisfield, head of UK real estate at ADIB in the UK.
Maisfield said the UK still offers transparency and security that is not available in many other parts of the world. “This, combined with sterling remaining weak against the dollar, makes the UK an even more comparatively attractive investment proposition,” Maisfield added. However, he noted, the biggest challenge facing their clients is “securing assets, particularly those offering long-term secure income, given the competitive nature of the market with investor demand outstripping supply.”
ADIB has also announced plans to streamline its UK operations which are aimed at ending several banking services as the Shari’ah compliant lender’s UK branch plans to focus on commercial real estate financing.
ADIB said that it will maintain its presence in the UK, with the focus on developing successful commercial real estate financing but will refrain from providing regulated services to customers, which includes account services, savings, deposits and safe deposit boxes.—Reuters/Zawya
