IFA Consortium of Kuwait concludes second major investment in The Palm

The deal sees the consortium increase its investment to include two retail blocks and two luxury shoreline apartment buildings. The IFA consortium has already made significant investments in The Palm, Jumeirah totaling $45 million in land acquisition which will be developed in the future to include a 1200 room luxury resort property including a hotel and vacation club.

"The IFA consortium decided to embark on a further major investment in The Palm Jumeirah based on its confidence in the great future of tourism in Dubai as envisaged by General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktourm, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Minister of Defence. The decision was also based on the support we have received from Sultan bin Sulayem and his outstanding management team at The Palm and through the belief that our group can deliver a world class product to the growing tourist market in Dubai", said Jassim Mohammed Al- Bahar, Chairman and Managing Director of IFA.

The additional investment in The Palm, Jumeirah represents $100 million and once built will comprise of a 204,440 square feet canal side shopping complex with luxury apartments above, and two luxury shoreline apartment buildings comprising a total of 248 apartments with a substantial beach and leisure club.

"We were pleased when IFA signed their first deal with The Palm project last year. Now for the consortium to return and make further investments in the project is overwhelming. The group has an excellent reputation with other luxury projects positioning them as a perfect partner for The Palm ", said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of Ports Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Chairman of The Palm. "The level of interest by investors continues to be extremely strong and we are currently negotiating a number of other deals that we will be announcing shortly," he continued.

The IFA consortium is composed of several leading Kuwait companies. These companies include International Financial Advisers (IFA), Kuwait Real Estate Company (KREC), International Finance Company (IFC) and United Investments Portugal (UIP).

The group through UIP has for the past 10 years developed and operated one of the most successful resorts in Europe - the Sheraton Algarve hotel and Pine Cliffs resort in Portugal, part of the Starwood Luxury Collection (www.pinecliffs.com).

The IFA consortium's aim is to link its Palm, Jumeirah developments with its existing luxury resort in Portugal as well as with its planned resort in Lebanon, thus presenting to its clients a link between the Middle East and Europe".