London Square bought by giant Abu Dhabi property firm in £230m deal

London Square has been bought by the largest real estate group in Abu Dhabi in a deal worth £230m. 

The £277m-turnover residential and mixed-use developer, which operates primarily in the UK’s capital, is the first acquisition for Aldar Properties outside the Middle East and North Africa region. 

Aldar recently expanded from its Abu Dhabi base into the Emirates of Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah and has established a presence in Egypt, and the London Square purchase is intended to provide a foundation for expansion into broader international markets. 

The Middle Eastern firm has said it intends to leverage its expertise and balance sheet to support the UK developer’s land acquisition strategy and enable it to develop larger and prime central London sites. London Square built 502 homes in 2022.

Aldar is also expecting a positive impact on sales due to the potential for capitalising on cross-selling across both companies’ diverse international customer networks. Aldar’s development sales during the first 9 months of 2023 were £4.15bn.  

Talal Al Dhiyebi, group chief executive of Aldar, said the acquisition was “a testament to [London Square’s] management team, governance framework, and business model which has consistently delivered strong performance”.  

“The transaction, which is synergistic in nature, gives us the ability to leverage our mutual strengths, shared values, and common approach to homebuilding to scale London Square while bringing the best of Aldar to bear in the UK’s property market, as we continue to build our foothold outside of the region,” he added. 

London Square’s founder Adam Lawrence said the deal was “an outstanding outcome” for the business and described Aldar as “an exemplary company with an unrivalled reputation”. 

He continued: “Becoming part of Aldar is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the future of London Square.  

>>See also: London Square plan to turn IKEA car park into 1,000-home development shelved

>>See also: London Square given green light for 253 homes in Wandsworth 

“We look forward to playing a leading role in tackling the housing shortage by providing more much-needed homes in the capital and surrounding areas where there is a continuing lack of supply.”  

Established in 2010, London Square is perhaps best known for its Nine Elms development in the south-east of the capital. 

It is also the owner of Square Roots, a for-profit registered provider of social housing, which posted an £808,000 loss in its first year in business.