Amlak Finance, Tamweel announce merger talks

Drawing upon the combined market expertise of the management teams and employees of both companies, a potential merger will bring significant benefits to the companies, shareholders and customers, including:

- Creation of the leading real estate finance provider in the Middle East

- Increased financial strength, size and scale to pursue the significant growth plans in the domestic and regional markets

- Enhanced value proposition for customers through a larger and more efficient company with broader product capabilities

- Meaningful expected operational and financial synergies resulting from the increased size, scale, funding and product capabilities

HE Nasser Bin Hassan Al-Shaikh, Director-General of Dubai Department of Finance and Chairman of Amlak Finance, said:

'The resultant entity would have a combined balance sheet in excess of Dhs27bn and serve as a financial powerhouse with the increased critical mass required to lead the region's real estate finance markets to the next stage in their ongoing organic growth.'

'The opportunity to provide real estate finance solutions to businesses and individuals in the region has never been greater as the markets are expected to experience continued strong growth in the years to come,' he added. 'A powerful market participant will be required to manage this growth both at home and internationally, and following the merger, the combined group will continue to execute this aggressive expansion strategy.'

HE Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed bin Saqer Al-Nehayan, Chairman of Tamweel, said:

'Amlak Finance is the pioneer in Sharia-compliant real estate finance in the UAE, with the largest balance sheet of any company in the sector, while Tamweel is the largest provider of real estate finance in the country by market share, and is the highest-rated non-banking financial institution in the region. The major shareholders of both companies - Emaar Properties for Amlak Finance, and Dubai Islamic Bank and Dubai World for Tamweel - are fully supportive of the merger discussions. We hope to move the process forward quickly and efficiently with minimal disruption to our customers and employees.'

A joint steering committee, chaired by His Excellency Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shaibani, the Chief Executive Officer of Investment Corporation of Dubai, has been formed to oversee the exploratory discussions for a possible merger and will include the Chairmen of both Amlak Finance and Tamweel. Subject to successful negotiations and agreement of terms between the respective Board of Directors, and applicable shareholder and regulatory approvals, the merger would be expected to close in early 2009. Both Amlak Finance and Tamweel will call extraordinary general meetings to seek the approval of their respective shareholders for any proposed transaction.

Goldman Sachs International has been asked to act as financial adviser.