Aldar acquires Basatin, expands facility management, landscaping services offering

Aldar Properties has acquired Basatin Landscaping (Basatin) aiming to further scale up its integrated property and facilities management platform, Aldar Estates.

Through this transaction, which is valued at Dhs150m, the company will hold a majority stake of 75 per cent in Basatin with the remaining 25 per cent held by a strategic partner.

Basatin is a provider of a wide range of landscaping services, including design, installation, paving, gardening and green waste disposal.

The company has over 1,000 employees and has provided landscaping services for key clients in the UAE, including the Department of Municipalities and Transport and Expo 2020.

The transaction complements the services already provided through the Aldar Estates platform.

Aldar Estates platform sees organic growth in 2022

The platform has been expanding rapidly, supported by solid organic growth and a number of acquisitions over the last year.

This transaction adds significant weight to the capabilities of Aldar Estates, enabling it to provide a more holistic range of services to Aldar’s growing customer base.

Aldar Estates’ portfolio includes property management company Provis, real estate services company Asteco, facilities management firm Khidmah, green building enabler Pactive Sustainable Solutions and security services provider Spark Security.

Jassem Saleh Busaibe, chief executive officer at Aldar Investment, said: “Our investment business continues to grow at pace and building scale across our Aldar Estates platform is an integral part of our strategic growth agenda. The addition of new complementary services to the platform is significant as we build out an offering that is becoming a one-stop shop for our clients.”

In other news, Aldar Investment Properties (AIP) raised $500m through its inaugural green sukuk.

The 10-year sukuk was priced with a 4.875 per cent coupon rate. The effective funding cost for AIP will be significantly lower due to a pre-hedging strategy implemented in 2021 and 2022 when long term rates were materially lower. As a result, the forward starting swaps secured will reduce the issuance’s effective rate to 3.85 per cent.

The issuance was four times oversubscribed, attracting a range of local, regional, and international investors that placed total orders of over $2.3bn.

The issuance is part of a $2bn financing programme by AIP to boost its growth agenda and sustainability commitments and the company’s plan to be a net zero carbon business by 2050.

In January, the company launched its ‘Net Zero Plan’, with a commitment to becoming a net zero carbon business across its Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.