Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties Buys London Square for $291 Mln

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks along the River Thames in view of City of London skyline in London, Britain, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks along the River Thames in view of City of London skyline in London, Britain, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
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Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties Buys London Square for $291 Mln

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks along the River Thames in view of City of London skyline in London, Britain, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks along the River Thames in view of City of London skyline in London, Britain, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties has bought London-based developer London Square for an enterprise value of 1.07 billion dirhams ($291 million) in its first acquisition outside the Middle East.
"Aldar intends to leverage its expertise and balance sheet to support London Square's land acquisition strategy to enable it to develop larger and prime central London sites," the two companies said in a joint statement on Friday.
The companies said the transaction should also have a positive impact on sales, given the opportunities to cross-sell across their respective customer base.
Aldar is 25%-owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company and 26%-owned by International Holding Company.

Established in 2010, London Square is widely known for its Nine Elms development, located in proximity to the Battersea Power Station.
The development features over 750 luxury homes, affordable housing and 21,500 square feet of commercial and retail space.



Oil Prices Stable on Monday as Data Offsets Surplus Concerns

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
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Oil Prices Stable on Monday as Data Offsets Surplus Concerns

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Oil prices stabilized on Monday after losses last week as lower-than-expected US inflation data offset investors' concerns about a supply surplus next year.

Brent crude futures were down by 38 cents, or 0.52%, to $72.56 a barrel by 1300 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 34 cents, or 0.49%, to $69.12 per barrel.

Oil prices rose in early trading after data on Friday that showed cooling US inflation helped alleviate investors' concerns after the Federal Reserve interest rate cut last week, IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said, Reuters reported.

"I think the US Senate passing legislation to end the brief shutdown over the weekend has helped," he added.

But gains were reversed by a stronger US dollar, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told Reuters.

"With the US dollar changing from weaker to stronger, oil prices have given up earlier gains," he said.

The dollar was hovering around two-year highs on Monday morning, after hitting that milestone on Friday.

Brent futures fell by around 2.1% last week, while WTI futures lost 2.6%, on concerns about global economic growth and oil demand after the US central bank signalled caution over further easing of monetary policy. Research from Asia's top refiner Sinopec pointing to China's oil consumption peaking in 2027 also weighed on prices.

Macquarie analysts projected a growing supply surplus for next year, which will hold Brent prices to an average of $70.50 a barrel, down from this year's average of $79.64, they said in a December report.

Concerns about European supply eased on reports the Druzhba pipeline, which sends Russian and Kazakh oil to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany, has restarted after halting on Thursday due to technical problems at a Russian pumping station.

US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday urged the European Union to increase US oil and gas imports or face tariffs on the bloc's exports.

Trump also threatened to reassert US control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.