Saudi Arabia’s Hassana takes stake in DP World’s assets
$2.4B BUY-IN IMPLIES A TOTAL ENTERPRISE VALUE OF $23B FOR THREE ASSETS
Dubai’s port and free zone operator DP World said yesterday that Saudi Arabia’s Hassana Investment Company took a stake of 10.2 per cent in some of its assets in the UAE through a $2.4 billion investment.
Saudi-based Hassana Investment Company (Hassana), the investment manager for the General Organisation for Social Insurance — owns one of the world’s largest pension funds.
This sale of a strategic minority stake in Jebel Ali Port, Jebel Ali Free Zone and National Industries Park, follows on the earlier transaction that successfully closed in June 2022.
Hassana will invest approximately $2.4 billion in a new joint venture with DP World through which it will hold 10.2 per cent stake in the three UAE assets. “The investment by Hassana implies a total enterprise value of approximately $23 billion for the three assets,” DP World said in a statement.
Growth and resilience
“Hassana shares our longterm vision for the UAE assets, which have a long and sustained track record of growth and resilience,” said Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. “We believe this new partnership will serve to enhance our assets and allow us to capture the significant growth potential of the wider market.”
“The transaction further strengthens our balance sheet, which, combined with the continued resilience of our business, diversity in our portfolio and focus on supply chain solutions, will support our target of achieving a strong investmentgrade rating for the DP World group,” he added.
After this investment, the three assets will remain fully consolidated businesses within the DP World Group, and their day-to-day operations, customers, service providers and employees will not be affected.
“This partnership highlights our focus and strategy to invest in critical infrastructure assets in the region that we believe will deliver long-term sustainable returns,” said Saad Bin Abdulmohsen Al Fadly, CEO of Hassana Investment Company.
“Favourable demographics and macroeconomic drivers and investment in transformational projects will continue to support growth momentum regionally, while trade between the emerging economies of Asia and Africa is also expected to thrive.”
Hassana, which manages over $250 billion of assets, was boosted last year by a merger of General Organisation for Social Insurance and Saudi Arabia’s Public Pension Agency, in a move intended to reduce costs and help increase investment returns.
The fund manager signed a memorandum of understanding with BlackRock Inc. last month to promote and develop its infrastructure investment strategy.