Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Aldar Properties on AED 963 million divestment of district cooling assets to Tabreed

Clifford Chance has advised Aldar Properties PJSC on its divestment of two district cooling assets on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island to National Central Cooling Company PJSC (Tabreed) for a total consideration of AED 963 million (approximately US$263 million).

The leading UAE listed property developer purchased a 100% stake in Saadiyat District Cooling LLC (SDCL) and an 85% stake in Saadiyat Cooling LLC (SCL) as part of a wider acquisition of assets from Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) in 2018, which Clifford Chance also advised Aldar Properties on. SDCL and SDL provide district cooling services to Saadiyat Island, a rapidly developing cultural and tourism hub housing the Louvre Abu Dhabi, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and arts centre Manarat Al Saadiyat and are set to be the first district cooling schemes to be licenced by the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy under the new District Cooling Regulations issued in 2019.

The transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2021. Proceeds from the sale are expected to be used to finance further growth of Aldar’s diversified real estate portfolio.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Tariq Imam and senior associate Gareth Dray, and also included partners Mo Al-Shukairy and Richard Parris, senior associates Richard Cameron and Isabella Van Zyl, associates Daryl Teo and Rezwan Azam, trainee solicitor Ahmed Shafiek, and legal project manager David Harris.

Tariq Imam commented: "We are honoured to have supported Aldar Properties on another strategic transaction, this time in the utilities sector. This was a complex and multi-faceted transaction for which Clifford Chance leveraged its market leading M&A, real estate, projects and legal management expertise in order to help achieve signing expeditiously."