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GFH Partners Acquires $150 Mln Assets in Saudi Arabia, UAE

Huge towers and real estate assets in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Getty Images)
Huge towers and real estate assets in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Getty Images)
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GFH Partners Acquires $150 Mln Assets in Saudi Arabia, UAE

Huge towers and real estate assets in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Getty Images)
Huge towers and real estate assets in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. (Getty Images)

GFH Partners completed the acquisition of a diversified logistics and industrial portfolio worth $150 million in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The portfolio comprises income-generating assets and opportunities for real estate development, in the logistics and industrial zones strategically located in Riyadh and Dubai. It encompasses various facilities such as light industrial and cold storage facilities, distribution centers, and warehousing assets. These properties are leased to a mix of international and regional tenants, according to a press release by GFH Partners on Saturday.

The opportunity to invest in Saudi-based logistics is driven by the growth of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector GDP which is expected to grow by 5.9% in 2023 and more than 4% in 2023.

Similarly, the UAE’s economy anticipates a 3% growth in 2023 followed by a 4% growth the following year, driven by non-oil sectors as well. The continued strength of Dubai’s position as a logistics hub is driven by continued strong demand for container and trade volumes in the key zones of Jebel Ali, Dubai South, and Dubai Investment Park, the statement read.

Nael Mustafa, Chief Executive Officer of GFH Partners, commented, “We’re pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of this portfolio of logistics real estate assets in KSA and the UAE. Combining high-quality, income-generating facilities and development opportunities, the acquisition is well-positioned to capture opportunities arising from the current expansion of the GCC logistics sector. Particularly in Saudi Arabia, where the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 is driving the rapid modernization and development of the country’s transportation and logistics industry to diversify its economy and shift its dependency away from the oil industry.”

Mustafa went on to say, “Further to this acquisition, GFH Partners aims to rapidly expand our GCC logistics real estate platform to SAR 1 billion (US$250 million) over the next 12-18 months, building on growth from favorable demographics, positive momentum in capital markets, and government initiatives to bolster their logistics industries, with Saudi Arabia set to become a key global logistics hub.”

Globally, GFH Partners has successfully acquired more than 50 logistics assets in six countries across three continents.

GFH Partners is focused on expanding GFH Financial Group’s global asset management capabilities in the real estate sector and currently manages more than $6 billion of real estate assets as part of the total $18 billion of assets and funds managed by the Group.

In recent years, GFH Partners has transacted over $4 billion in the logistics real estate sector, with units leased to credit-rated tenants, including Amazon, FedEx, DHL, General Mills, and Michelin, among others.

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Syria Gets New Cash Shipment from Russia 

A view of Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. (Reuters)
A view of Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria Gets New Cash Shipment from Russia 

A view of Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. (Reuters)
A view of Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria received a new shipment of its local currency printed in Russia on Wednesday and more shipments were expected in the future, a Syrian government official said.

The cash arrived via plane at Damascus airport on Wednesday and was taken by a convoy of several trucks to the central bank, according to a separate source familiar with the matter, reported Reuters.

Syria began paying Russia to print its currency under a multi-million-dollar contract during the 13-year-old Syrian civil war, after Damascus' previous contract with a subsidiary of the Austrian central bank was terminated due to European sanctions.

It is unclear if the arrangement is now continuing under the same terms. One source familiar with the contract said it was.

Russia backed Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad during the war, swaying the conflict with its bombardment of opposition groups including the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that ousted Assad in a lightning offensive last year.

But Russia quickly moved to maintain its ties with Damascus in the weeks after Assad fled to Moscow, with an eye on keeping its two key bases in the country's coastal region.

A senior Russian diplomat visited Damascus in January and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 12.

Two days later, Syria received its first shipment of local currency from Russia.

The cash shipments are critical: Syria's war-ravaged economy has slid further in the past months amid a shortage of currency that Syrian officials have attributed in part to delays in the Russian cash shipments, as well as to hoarding of Syrian pounds.

A senior former Syrian official said Russian cash shipments in the hundreds of billions of Syrian pounds (tens of millions of US dollars) used to arrive in Damascus each month. Reuters could not determine exactly how much had arrived on Wednesday, the second such shipment since Assad was ousted on Dec. 8.

The cash crunch has left Syrian depositors struggling to use their savings and has piled pressure on local businesses who are already being squeezed by new competition from cheap imports as the protectionist economy is opened up by the new rulers.

Economists and analysts say Syria's cash shortage is largely behind the currency's strengthening on the black market in the months since Assad fell, while it has also been helped by an influx of visitors from abroad and an end to strict controls on trade in foreign currencies.

The pound on Thursday was trading at around 10,000 per Greenback on the black market, compared to the official central bank rate of 13,000.

It traded at around 15,000 per US dollar before Assad was toppled.

Syrian central bank governor Maysaa Sabreen told Reuters in January that she wanted to avoid printing Syrian pounds to guard against inflation.

The central bank only has foreign exchange reserves of around $200 million in cash, sources previously told Reuters, a huge drop from the $18.5 billion that the International Monetary Fund estimated Syria had in 2010, a year before civil war erupted.

It also holds nearly 26 tons of gold, the same amount it held before the war, the sources said.