Dentons aids Tabreed, advising on AED963 million acquisition of Aldar’s Saadiyat Island district cooling assets

March 2021

Capping the second of the UAE’s two largest acquisitions of 2020 – both involving Abu Dhabi based district cooling developer, National Central Cooling Company PJSC, members of Dentons’ market-leading Middle East Corporate Team advised the utility on the recent AED963 million (USD262.2 million) purchase of Aldar Properties’ district cooling assets on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island.

“It is a very real pleasure to be advising our long-term client Tabreed on such a strategic acquisition,” said Jon Nash, partner in Dentons Abu Dhabi office and team co-lead. “These are important assets in an exciting part of the capital, which promises very significant development in the coming years. Tabreed have had a very busy and successful year and we look forward to further successes in the future.”

With expected completion in Q1 2021, Tabreed has experienced an unprecedented year of deal making. Dentons’ assistance in the recent acquisition of cooling assets on Saadiyat Island is the second of recent transactions on which Dentons has advised Tabreed. The Firm recently advised the company on the contract arrangements for the district cooling of media freezone, twofour54’s new flagship development, at Yas Island.

Commenting on the transaction’s impact and complexity, Dubai partner and team co-lead, Iain Black remarked, “This deal is one of the largest M&A transactions in the UAE this year and involved the acquisition of multiple assets at different stages of development. Dentons were able to leverage our market leading M&A, district cooling, projects and real estate expertise to support Tabreed on all aspects of the transaction.”

Also advising on the Saadiyat Island deal were Dubai-based members of the Dentons Corporate team, senior associate, Joe Carroll, and associates Jasem Alanizy and Kislay Kumar, along with trainee Hassan Damanhouri. The team also included associate Stephanie Hawes and trainee Moayad Al Zahrani, both members of Dentons’ Construction and Projects team in Dubai.