Bahrain-based TAIB Bank announced on20 September that it had acquired a portfolio of 1,180 family apartments in Florida and Pennsylvania for $78 million. 'A total of five apartment blocks have been bought, three in Florida and two in Pennsylvania,' says a TAIB official. The purchases were made through TAIB's wholly owned subsidiary TAM 1 Residential Holdings. TAM Management Florida will manage the properties. TAIB arranged mortgage financing from an undisclosed US institution.

The official says that returns from the Florida properties will be boosted by the fact that they are exempt from withholding taxes. He adds that high occupancy rates in all the properties - there is an average rate of 96 per cent - will also increase revenue streams.

'These acquisitions have expanded TAIB's property portfolio,' says the official. 'Real estate holdings in the US and UK are valued at about $300 million, of which $42 million is in the UK.'