Bahrain Mumtalakat to form partnership

Manama : Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (“Mumtalakat”), the  investment arm of Bahrain, yesterday announced its partnership with Regent Properties (“Regent”) through which, Mumtalakat is acquiring an interest in an existing portfolio of high-quality commercial real estate assets in the United States currently managed by Regent (the “Portfolio”).  

Regent Properties is a real estate development and investment firm based in Los Angeles, California.  The aggregate value of the Portfolio is approximately $250 million and is  comprised of substantially leased, income-generating Class-A office buildings in the Phoenix, Arizona and Dallas, Texas areas. 

With this transaction, Mumtalakat will be joining existing Regent investors including affiliates of BlackRock, CAM Capital, and other well-known endowments and pension funds. 

The portfolio provides attractive cash yields and solid rent growth from strong credit tenants in a wide range of industries.  It also offers geographic diversification in two of the most dynamic, growing and business-friendly markets in the United States. Both Phoenix and Dallas have been, and continue to, experience strong and steady employment growth, and provide more compelling risk/return profiles than highly priced gateway markets.

The acquisition demonstrates Mumtalakat’s continued efforts and commitment to further develop its portfolio through commercially sound and sustainable investments, to diversify internationally and to build long-term partnerships with the potential to lead to further co-investment opportunities.

Chief Executive Officer of Mumtalakat, Mahmood Hashim Alkooheji, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Regent Properties.  They have assembled a unique commercial real estate portfolio in markets that provide us with a very attractive risk/reward profile.

“This transaction, our third investment in the U.S. in less than two years, is in line with our ongoing strategy to partner with reputable international businesses looking for growth capital with a long-term investment horizon.” 

Eric Fleiss, President of Regent Properties, said, “Regent is pleased to build a relationship with a well-regarded and highly entrepreneurial sovereign wealth fund such as Mumtalakat.  We are honoured to welcome them to our investor group and view their participation in this transaction as a vote of confidence for our real estate investment strategy and our management team.”