Birthing a giant

ENAR

Even with a consenting and eager family backing the enterprise, the birth of a new real estate giant in Abu Dhabi has not been a simple procedure; however, the emergence of Aldar Sorouh Properties now appears nigh. The boards of real estate development companies Aldar Properties and Sorouh Properties announced in a joint statement on January 21 that the board of each company unanimously approved a planned merger which is to create a company with more than AED 47 billion ($12.8 billion) in assets and one of the region’s largest land banks. The new company will concentrate on real estate development in Abu Dhabi, where its two predecessors have been associated with a wide range of the emirate’s most ambitious property developments — including some severe loss-incurrence. A happy home?Anywhere but Beirut Beirut ranked as the 171st most desirable city in the world out of a total of 221 cities