Dubai’s Arabtec wins $6.1bn Aabar contract

Dubai-based construction firm Arabtec said it would build 37 major buildings worth 22.44 billion dirhams ($6.1 billion) for Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in a fresh sign of the dramatic recovery of local estate markets.

Confirming a Reuters story on Saturday, Arabtec said the deal was one of the largest ever in the region’s real estate sector and Arabtec’s biggest by value.

In a bourse statement on Sunday, Arabtec also quoted Aabar Properties chairman Khadem Al Qubaisi as saying Aabar would in future assign all construction work in its $20 billion real estate portfolio around the world to Arabtec.

That portfolio includes projects in the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Morocco, Jordan, Serbia and other countries. Aabar, which also owns stakes in companies such as commodities trader Glencore (GLEN.L) and Italian bank UniCredit (CRDI.MI), holds about 22 percent of Arabtec.

Arabtec said it would start work this year on the new buildings, which would be mixed-use, residential and hotel towers, and that all the projects would be completed by 2020.