Chapeau (Extrait) :
Dubai’s Emaar Properties has proposed a Dh15-a-share cash offer for the roughly one-fifth of its listed housebuilder Emaar Development that it does not already own, a deal valued by Bloomberg at up to Dh12.6 billion ($3.4bn), and reported a 17 per cent rise in nine-month net profit on Thursday, according to filings to the Dubai Financial Market reported by The National, Gulf News and AGBI.
A buyout to bring the UAE pipeline in-house
In a disclosure to the Dubai Financial Market on Wednesday, November 4, Emaar Properties said it intends to make a voluntary cash offer for up to 100 per cent of the Emaar Development shares not held by the parent and its indirectly wholly owned subsidiary, Emirates Property Holdings. The parent currently controls just over 79 per cent of the unit, which handles the group’s build-to-sell residential projects in the UAE.
The announcement confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report that the group was weighing a multibillion-dollar buyout. At the time of the filing, the offer remained subject to approval by Emaar Properties’ board.
Taking full ownership would place Emaar’s UAE build-to-sell business, and the cash flows from its order book, entirely under the parent. Emaar Development was floated in November 2017 in an initial public offering that raised about Dh4.8 billion ($1.3bn).
Profit up, but growth slows in the third quarter
A day later, Emaar Properties published results for the January-September period. Revenue rose 13 per cent year on year to Dh37.5 billion, while net profit after tax climbed 17 per cent to about Dh17.1 billion. Most of that growth came in the first half: third-quarter revenue increased by only around 3 per cent.
Group property sales reached Dh34.7 billion over the nine months, and the revenue backlog from homes already sold stood at Dh158.8 billion at the end of September, up 6 per cent on a year earlier. Of that total, roughly Dh127 billion relates to UAE developments. Because developers recognise revenue as construction progresses, this backlog continues to feed earnings even when new sales slow.
Emaar Development, the unit targeted by the offer, booked UAE property sales of Dh26.2 billion over the period and a nine-month net profit of about Dh11 billion, up by roughly a quarter on 2025.
The board also approved a one-off special dividend of Dh4.4 billion, or 50 fils per share, on top of the regular annual payout.
War weighs on hotels and new sales
The figures reflect a Dubai market adjusting to the fallout from the Iran war. Average occupancy at Emaar’s UAE hotels fell to 63 per cent in the first nine months, from 80 per cent a year earlier, as international visitor numbers declined. By contrast, its malls and commercial leasing business lifted revenue by 10 per cent to Dh5.2 billion, with occupancy of around 98 per cent.
Across Dubai, the value of residential transactions in the third quarter was roughly half that of the same period last year, according to industry data cited by The National and AGBI, as buyers turned more cautious.
What it means for investors
For minority shareholders in Emaar Development, the Dh15 price sets a clear exit benchmark if the offer proceeds. For the parent, consolidating the unit would bring the UAE backlog and the cash it generates wholly under group control, giving management more room to decide how that cash is used, from dividends to recurring-income assets and new launches.
Emaar Properties shares closed 1.8 per cent higher at Dh12.52 on Thursday, but remain about 11 per cent lower since the start of the year.