Clifford Chance advises Aldar on the completion of an AED 10 billion retail assets joint venture with Mubadala, and the establishment of a strategic partnership with Mubadala with respect to Masdar City

Clifford Chance has advised Aldar Properties (“Aldar”) on two major transactions with Mubadala Investment Company (“Mubadala”), reinforcing the parties’ long standing strategic collaboration across Abu Dhabi’s real estate sector.

Completion of an AED 10 billion retail assets joint venture

We advised Aldar on the completion of its strategic joint venture with Mubadala to create a premier retail platform valued at approximately AED 10 billion (USD 2.72 billion) that will anchor Abu Dhabi’s next phase of growth as a global destination for curated luxury retail experiences.

The new platform, comprising of 260,000 sqm of gross leasable area, consolidates two of Abu Dhabi’s flagship retail destinations under a single structure to be managed by Aldar:

• Yas Mall, contributed by Aldar; and
• The Galleria Luxury Collection, contributed by Mubadala.

Establishment of a strategic partnership with respect to Masdar City

The above transaction follows on from our advice to Aldar on the extension of its long-standing strategic partnership with Mubadala, through the establishment of a joint venture in respect of recurring income‑generating residential and commercial assets in Masdar City.

The Clifford Chance team was led from the UAE by Regional Managing Partner, Middle East & Türkiye Mohammed Al-Shukairy and legal director Gareth Dray.

They were supported by a cross‑practice Clifford Chance team comprising Kimberly Ng (Senior Associate, UAE), Ismaila Ngum (Senior Associate, UAE), Melanie Ray (Associate, UAE), Nabeela Afifi (Associate, UAE) and Nasser Seif (Trainee, UAE) from the corporate M&A team. 

Strategic real estate advice was led by Tariq Imam (Partner, UAE) with support from Nick Chan (Senior Associate, UAE), Sher Khan (Senior Associate, UAE) and Johnson Cortelek (Associate, UAE). 

Sabra Ferhat (Counsel, UAE) and Mehran Azzam (Associate, UAE) assisted on anti-trust matters.

Tax support was provided by David Saleh (Partner), Edward Page (Partner), Simon Corzberg (Director) and Gordon Hopkinson (Director).