Tabreed CEO Al Marzooqi says company is ready for more acquisitions

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Al Marzooqi said the new Maktoum Airport will be of interest to Tabreed and added: “We’re deep-pocketed and if the opportunity arises, for sure, we’re going to pursue it.

“Hopefully, something else is coming. Tabreed has had quite a significant year. We’ve announced our acquisition for Palm Jebel Ali, which is almost two and a half times larger than Palm Jumeirah, and we basically added Reem Island.

“We have our eyes on some new upcoming business in Dubai, namely, the new Maktoum Airport.”

Al Marzooqi said the strength of Tabreed’s new partners allows them to look at new acquisitions.

Asked if Tabreed will continue to look at opportunities along with CVC DIF, he added: “That might be the case as well. We looked at a lot of investors. CVC are very strong when it comes to infrastructure investors. They run about AED81 billion worth of assets for pension funds and other infrastructure investments. So, we see them as a very, very strong partners. We had a bunch of other companies that we kind of filtered out, and CVC DIF came out as the strongest and the best partners in our JV.

“The gist of this thing is to keep our investment grade, and this was one of the major drivers for us to partner up with the likes of CVC DIF.

“It will allow us to pursue new acquisitions as well, as long as our investment grade is kept solid. We will be funding it, part of it from our cash reserves and company debt. It will unlock our potential for new acquisitions. If the opportunity arises and we see that value accretive for our shareholders, for sure, we’re going to pursue it.”