Credits By: ZAWYA
ADQ and IHC Capital Holding, prominent entities in Abu Dhabi’s investment and holding space have jointly presented a compelling offer to Q Holding, seeking to combine their assets and create a formidable force in the real estate, hospitality, events, catering, and urban development sectors. This strategic move aims to establish a regional leader to enhance Abu Dhabi’s standing as an integrated real estate and hospitality hub, aligning with the emirate’s ongoing economic transformation initiatives.
The proposed transaction envisions consolidating resources and operations from ADQ’s Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) and a majority ownership interest in Modon Properties, alongside IHC Capital’s entire interest in Modon, into Q Holding. This union would form one of the region’s most prominent platforms in real estate, hospitality, events, and catering, synergizing to boost efficiency, reduce costs, and mitigate industry-specific risks. Additionally, it would pave the way for increased financial flexibility, enabling strategic investments, debt reduction, and potential distributions to shareholders.
The proposed offer entails Q Holding issuing a convertible instrument to ADQ and IHC Capital, converting into approximately 9,491 million ordinary shares at a price of Dhs 2.70 per share. This offer values Q Holding at approximately Dhs 18.5 billion, with ADQ and IHC Capital, respectively, holding around 38.7 per cent and 19.4 percent of the entire issued share capital of the company upon completion.
Mohamed Hassan Al Suwaidi, the MD and CEO at ADQ, expressed enthusiasm about the unique opportunity the proposed offer presents, envisioning the combined assets thriving with increased scale and new revenue avenues for future growth. Syed Basar Shueb, IHC’s CEO and Managing Director echoed the sentiment, highlighting the strategic alignment’s potential to bolster real estate development and bridge the gap between the tourism and real estate sectors.
Before proceeding, the transaction must receive approvals from Q Holding’s Board and regulatory and shareholder endorsements. However, if these approvals are secured, the path is paved for a significant transformation in the region’s real estate and hospitality landscape, with Q Holding positioned as an attractive prospect for public investors.
Meanwhile, Mubadala Investment Company, a prominent Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, has invested strategically in Aligned Data Centres, a leading pan-America data centre company headquartered in the US. As a minority partner alongside Macquarie Asset Management, Mubadala’s investment will support Aligned’s rapid expansion and its mission to provide sustainable and scalable infrastructure to meet the growing demand for data centres in the Americas. Aligned’s operations, which include colocation and build-to-suit solutions, will span more than 2.5 GW of critical capacity across 40+ data centres at full buildout, with a recent expansion into Latin America with the acquisition of ODATA.
Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, CEO of Real Estate and Infrastructure Investments at Mubadala, emphasized the company’s excitement about partnering with Aligned, praising its AI-ready status and the potential to support a wide range of AI, ML, and DL services. This investment further strengthens Aligned’s position as a preferred partner in the Pan-American data centre market and aligns with Mubadala’s commitment to delivering essential digital infrastructure across the Americas.
