The largest real estate group in Abu Dhabi, Aldar Properties, has completed the 100% acquisition of London Square, Develop Croydon partner, in a deal worth £230m.

Following Aldar’s recent expansion into the neighbouring Emirates of Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah and presence in Egypt, the acquisition is the first international acquisition beyond the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It is an extension of Aldar’s vision to accelerate growth, diversify revenue streams, unlock synergies, and drive cross-selling opportunities.

Aldar and London Square have a shared vision and approach to creating world-class developments, anchored in high quality design, sustainability, and customer service excellence. Moreover, this transaction represents a new phase of growth for both entities and will provide two-way benefits, delivering a positive impact for communities and bringing new opportunities to the customers each company serves.

Aldar intends to leverage its expertise and balance sheet to support London Square’s land acquisition strategy to enable it to develop larger and prime central London sites. Additionally, the transaction is expected to have a positive impact on sales, given the potential for capitalizing on cross-selling across both companies’ diverse international customer networks, with Aldar’s development sales during the first 9 months of 2023 totalling GBP 4.15 billion (AED 19.4 billion).

London Square and Aldar are a complementary fit, with both entities’ businesses highly compatible on several fronts including robust governance, corporate culture, development quality and brand reputation. The company’s seasoned management team and well-established industry relationships, together with its strong commitment to sustainability, customer-centricity and shared values further reinforce the compatibility and synergy with Aldar.

Founded on driving growth, knowledge sharing, strong returns, and market leadership, the acquisition represents a strong vote of confidence in London Square’s expert management team and business model. While it also recognises the company’s track record of securing planning consent – leveraging its strong relationship with local authorities – and extensive experience in delivering complex brownfield sites and building homes across all tenures of the highest quality and design.

Talal Al Dhiyebi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Aldar Properties said: “Our recently announced international expansion strategy centres on exploring opportunities to acquire or partner with established operating platforms in our target markets. The acquisition of London Square represents our first market entry outside of the region, and is a testament to the company’s management team, governance framework, and business model which has consistently delivered strong performance. The transaction, which is synergistic in nature, gives us the ability to leverage our mutual strengths, shared values, and common approach to homebuilding to scale London Square while bringing the best of Aldar to bear in the UK’s property market, as we continue to build our foothold outside of the region.”

Adam Lawrence, Founder and Chief Executive of London Squaresaid: “This is an outstanding outcome for London Square. Aldar is an exemplary company with an unrivalled reputation and their strength and breadth of knowledge and experience will enable London Square to flourish and extend its presence across Greater London and the Southeast. Since establishing London Square in 2010, the company has enjoyed significant organic growth, with the support of Ares Management funds for the past nine years. We would like to thank Ares Management for their contribution to the success of London Square. Becoming part of Aldar is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the future of London Square. We look forward to playing a leading role in tackling the housing shortage by providing more much-needed homes in the capital and surrounding areas where there is a continuing lack of supply.”