Sharjah-based Arada acquired an 80% stake in London’s Thameside West development, a 2 mn sq ft project valued at AED 12 bn (USD 3.3 bn), according to a statement. The move marks its second major UK acquisition this year, following its September purchase of a 75% stake in British developer Regal for AED 2.5 bn.

What Arada is buying: Thameside West, located on the Royal Docks waterfront, is slated to deliver at least 5k homes, with 35% set aside as affordable housing. The planned mixed-use community will also include schools and retail facilities. The site spans the longest undeveloped riverfront in central London — half of which is earmarked for green and public spaces — and sits within a web of rail, air, river, and cable car transport links. Arada is looking to work with local authorities to build a new London metro station at the site, the statement said.

Funding: Arada will earmark as much as USD 427.7 mn for the takeover — with the funds coming primarily from the firm’s equity pools — with plans to also tap banks for debt financing, CEO Ahmed Alkhoshaibi told The National. The land acquisition is going to set the firm back GBP 225 mn, with most of that coming from its own coffers, and banks in the UAE set to finance a separate GBP 100 mn it will need for the acquisition.

Who’s involved? British architecture firm Foster + Partners is the master planner for the development. Arada acquired the 80% stake from Keystone, a Swiss-based family office focusing on private equity and real estate, and will work on the project with GLA Land and Property, a public British property development and investment body.

Pipeline impact: The transaction takes Arada’s UK pipeline to 15k homes, after Regal brought in 11 projects with a 10k-unit pipeline, rebranded as Arada London. Thameside West’s first 1k-unit phase is expected to break ground in 2027, pending planning approvals. Development will come in five phases, aiming to wrap up in 2029.

The local scene: London’s real estate is in somewhat of a slump currently, with more stringent regulation and tax uncertainty meaning that by 2027 only 15-20k homes will be under construction — down from almost 65k in 2020, Bloomberg reports. Despite this, Arada is confident, with Alkhoshaibi citing underlying demand and a network of GCC buyers likely to pick up the slack from potentially dampened local interest, as the project targets middle-income buyers.

More expansion ahead…: Arada aims to scale its London portfolio to 30k units within three years. The company has also said it is considering an IPO by 2028 and looking to expand into Saudi Arabia by next June.

The story also got ink from Reuters.

IN OTHER M&A NEWS-

M42 takes full control of UEMedical: Mubadala-backed healthtech firm M42 will acquire 100% of United Eastern Medical Services (UEMedical) by taking over the 26.67% stake of Abu Dhabi-based PE firm Olive Rock Partners (ORP) for an undisclosed sum, according to a press release. As part of the transaction, ORP will fully own HealthPlus IVF and Women’s Health Abu Dhabi.

IN CONTEXT- UEMedical is part of Mubadala Heath and its portfolio includes Danat Al Emarat Hospital, Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi, and the HealthPlus network

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