The real estate developer has diversified into new sectors
Date established: 2005
Main business sectors: Real estate, construction, finance, communications, investment
Chairman: Salah bin Ghanim al-Ali
Tel: (+974) 4 408 8888
Web: www.barwa.com.qa
Barwa was established in December 2005 and listed on the Doha Securities Market in February 2006. As of 30 September 2013, its asset base was worth QR45.5bn ($12.5bn) and it held investment properties worth QR10.9bn.
Barwa is 45 per cent owned by Qatari Diar, which is wholly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, the countrys sovereign wealth fund. Its total equity is valued at QR13.4bn.
The companys seven-member board of directors is led by Salah bin Ghanim al-Ali, who is also Qatars sports minister.
Barwa began as a real estate developer, but, like many other state-backed entities, it has diversified into new sectors. Some are directly related to real estate, such as construction materials production, facilities management, hotels and resorts, while other new businesses are less closely tied to the sector, such as banking, finance, communications and investment in new technologies.
The firm divides its operations in two: real estate and other investments. It then reports its activities in terms of domestic projects and overseas activity.
In Qatar, Barwa focuses on real estate developments, but in international markets it tends to seek investment opportunities in businesses such as hotel chains and serviced apartments. Approximately 50 per cent of all Barwas employees are Qatari nationals.
Although the groups main activities remain in Qatar, Barwa has a wide array of investments and operations in 13 other countries regionally and internationally.
Qatars real estate developers have struggled in recent years with oversupply, and Barwa Real Estate is no exception. The company remains profitable however, although it reported a 40 per cent fall in profits in its most recent financial results. It made QR467m in the nine months ending 30 September 2013, down from QR779m a year earlier.
Barwa reported debts of QR32.13bn at the end of the third quarter of 2013, down from QR50.47bn at the same point a year before.
To reduce its liabilities, Barwa Real Estate recently sold its 37.34 per cent stake in Barwa Bank to Qatari Diar for about QR2.4bn. The deal, which still requires legal and government approval, is part of an existing agreement that would see Qatari Diar buy QR20bn-worth of assets from Barwa Real Estate.
In February 2013, Barwa sold off some of its investments in Egypt. Then in September, the company announced that it was seeking to sell land in the Lusail area to the north of Doha.
Among the assets being bought by Qatari Diar are the Barwa Commercial Avenue project, Barwa Al-Sadd, the Barwa City scheme along with several other investments. The asset purchase agreement with Qatari Diar is part of the financial restructuring plan that the company adopted in 2013, where certain assets are sold and the sale proceeds directed towards extinguishing the companys debts, reducing financing costs and improving the companys financial position, according to the company.
It is not the first time the government has stepped in to support the developer. In 2011, state carrier Qatar Airways reportedly agreed to rent the entire Barwa City real estate development from Barwa in a deal worth an estimated QR7.1bn. Also in 2011, Qatar Petroleum signed a framework agreement with Barwa Real Estate that would see Barwa Financial District become the state energy firms headquarters complex.
In 2013, Barwa Real Estate announced plans to build a $5.5bn residential and resort project on an island off the coast of Qatar, including five temporary floating hotels to accommodate visitors to the 2022 World Cup.
The pedestrian-only Oryx Island development also comprises a cruise ship terminal, a water park, hotels, commercial space and a 250-hectare resort. The hotels will be large enough to accommodate as many as 25,000 people.
The company is also behind a $1bn development in the industrial area called Barwa al-Baraha, known as Workers City. It is planned to be the Gulfs largest labourer settlement, accommodating 53,000 workers. The development will comprise 64 buildings, with 130 rooms in each block, and extensive parking spaces for trucks and vehicles. Phase 2 of the project was launched in late 2011.
It also recently announced plans for a 250-hectare Gulf Resort in Abu Samra, overlooking Salwa Bay and containing three hotels, a shopping mall, a corniche waterfront area and a large marina, as well as a new residential scheme known as Dara, covering an area of 176,000 square metres at the new Lusail City project being overseen by Qatari Diar.
Barwa City
Estimated value $1.3bn phase 1
Phase 1 calls for the construction of 128 apartment blocks providing some 6,000 units. Worth an estimated QR4.8bn, the main construction contract was awarded to Germanys Bilfinger Berger in 2007 and was completed in 2011. In mid-2010, Indias Shapoorji Pallonji was awarded a $180m contract to build amenities such as schools and mosques at the development.
Barwa Financial District
Estimated value $1.3bn
Financial District is an integrated mixed-use development on a 71,000-sq-m plot in the West Bay area with a planned built-up area of more than 500,000 sq m. It was designed to serve local and international financial institutions by offering high-quality office space in nine towers and parking for more than 5,000 cars. Its principal building is a 50-storey tower. However, in December 2011, Qatar Petroleum (QP) signed a sales completion agreement with Barwa to buy the district for a price of $3bn. QP intends to re-locate its headquarters and various business entities to the site on its completion in 2015. Frances Bouygues was awarded a QR4.8bn contract in October 2009 to build the towers and is being assisted by two local contractors: Midmac Contracting and AlJaber Engineering.
Barwa Commercial Avenue
Estimated value $1.1bn
Commercial Avenue is an 8-kilometre mixed-use development offering 600 retail units and 850 residential and office units, with a total built-up area of more than 1 million sq m. A range of local and international companies have worked on the project, including Hochtief, which provided pre-construction services, and Qatar Projects Management, which is providing project management services. Completion is set for 2012.
Baraha Motor City
Estimated value $550m
Motor City is a QR2bn project covering almost 2 million sq m of land in Doha. It involves the construction of a self-contained integrated community to provide a broad range of automotive-related services. The main hub of the city will be retail areas, commercial offices for trading, insurance and logistics, car showrooms, and light food and beverage outlets. There will also be areas for car auctions, workshops and vehicle technical inspections. A driving school and test track zone are also planned, along with heavy commercial vehicles and truck parking zones.
Masaken al-Sailiya and Musaimeer
Estimated value $448m
Masaken al-Sailiya and Musaimeer are separate projects comprising a total of 1,984 homes built over 400,000 sq m of land. Investment in the projects, which are completed and occupied, totalled QR1.3bn.
Barwa Village
Estimated value $440m
Barwa Village comprises 18 residential blocks between Doha International airport and Al-Wakrah. Built by the local Marbu Contracting, the QR1.6bn scheme includes 458 homes, support facilities and 918 shops. It was completed in 2010 and was, according to Barwa, 95 per cent occupied as of early 2012.
Investments
Barwa Real Estates investments overseas include Guidance Hotels Investment Company (GHIC), which was established in 2006 to create a niche sharia-compliant hotel brand focused on the Middle East and North Africa region. GHIC has embarked on the development of a portfolio of hotels under the Shaza brand, with the assistance of GHICs strategic partner, Kempinski Hotels and Resorts.
Shaza aims to differentiate itself from other hotel developers by designing properties specifically tailored to intra-regional travellers. The company plans to build a portfolio of 10 hotels, with five currently in operation in Medina, Marrakech, Fez, Bahrain Bay and Cairo.
Another international subsidiary is Nuzul Holdings, which focuses on serviced apartments within the hospitality sector. At the moment, the group owns properties in Bahrain and Qatar: the 118-unit Somerset Juffair serviced residences in Manama and the 200-unit Somerset Corniche serviced residences in Doha.
Nuzul has signed a 10-year management contract for the properties with Singapore-based Ascott International, the largest serviced residence owner-operator outside the US. The deal marks the first of several serviced residences that are expected to be launched by Nuzul Holding across the Middle East.
Other properties owned by Nuzul Holdings include Jewar Tower in Mecca and Al-Muftah Tower in Doha. Barwa International has a 30 per cent shareholding of Nuzul Holdings.
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