Dubai billionaire Sajwani ups Damac bid after investor backlash

Dubai billionaire Sajwani ups Damac bid after investor backlash

Hussain Sajwani has increased his bid to buy the rest of Damac Properties by about 8%

Dubai-based billionaire Hussain Sajwani has increased his bid to buy the rest of Damac Properties by about 8 percent, after a previous offer triggered a regulatory review and backlash from minority investors.

Sajwani’s Maple Invest Co Limited will now offer 1.40 dirhams ($0.38) per share of Damac, up from 1.30 dirhams, valuing the developer at AED8.47 billion.

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Sajwani (pictured below) and his family currently hold just under 84 percent of the company.

Maple’s initial offer was at a discount of nearly 45 percent to Damac’s local listing in 2015.

That bid prompted the Securities and Commodities Authority to open a review and sparked a backlash among some investors who questioned the timing of the plan just as the property market started to improve.

The shares closed unchanged at 1.25 dirhams in Dubai on Thursday.

Sajwani’s bid is the latest in a string of similar deals in the UAE which sought to buy out minority shareholders at a discount.

Emaar Properties said in March