Dubai real estate giant Emaar Properties said on Sunday that the debt of the entity to be created through its merger with three other property developers will not exceed US$3.64 billion, or 7 percent of combined assets.
The listed company, which is mostly controlled by the government, and the government-owned Dubai Holding had said on Friday that they were in advanced talks to merge Emaar and three Dubai Holding property units — Dubai Properties, Sama Dubai and Tatweer.
“The combined entity will have an indebtedness of 13.4 billion dirhams [US$3.64 billion] with total assets of 194 billion dirhams,” Emaar said in a statement to the stock market to reassure panicking shareholders.
Emaar’s share shed 9.97 percent of its value on Sunday.
The company said the three Dubai Holding units had by the end of last year a combined total assets book value of 126 billion dirhams, while their total external debt amounted to about 3.4 billion dirhams.
Meanwhile, the assets of Emaar, which is building the world’s tallest tower, Burj Dubai, had by March 31 a book value of 68 billion dirhams and a total debt of 10 billion dirhams, it said.
The assets of the Dubai Holding units include an “attractive land bank,” Emaar said, adding that it would contribute positively to the consolidation.
Emaar said it expected the consolidation process to be completed in about four months.
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