Aabar Acquires 53% of Arabtec

Abu Dhabi fund Aabar Investments has raised its stake in Arabtec Holding to 53 %, a market official said yesterday, effectively taking control of Dubai’s largest builder after a failed $1.7 billion bid two years ago.

The state-owned fund, which owns stakes in high-profile names such as German carmaker Daimler, commodities trader Glencore and Italy’s UniCredit, had been buying up shares in recent weeks through subsidiaries and owned a 10.45 % in Arabtec as at end April.

An official at the Dubai Financial Market said trade done on May 6, and settled on May 8, had lifted Aabar’s position to 53 %.

The new shareholder structure will be updated on the bourse’s website today, the official said.

Arabtec shares, which have surged 94 % year-to-date, plunged 6.4 % yesterday on the Dubai bourse over fears that the company may delist and that minority shareholders’ interests would be overlooked.

Aabar tried to acquire a 70-% stake in Arabtec in 2010 in a $1.7 billion deal that was eventually cancelled.

However, both firms said they would continue to work together in the future and form strategic partnerships.

Aabar first raised its Arabtec stake to 5.3 % in March and later doubled it to 10.5 % through another subsidiary.