UAE property developer Aldar Properties is looking to make Egypt a focal point of its expansion, allocating capital for acquisitions here, CFO Greg Fewer said on a media call today picked up by Reuters. “I think the changes that we announced recently that brought separate business units under Aldar Development, including Egypt and ventures in particular, are reflecting a focused statement of intent on our side that Egypt is a particularly interesting market,” he is reported to have said. It’s “early to point to a date or something like that, but clearly our intent is to focus our outward growth into Egypt on the development side of the business and deploy meaningful capital there,” he added. The company confirmed in a regulatory filing that it is considering a move to Egypt.

How big could this potential investment be? The announcement follows the release of its earnings (pdf), which showed that it has offloaded more than USD 272.2 mn in assets. Aldar’s treasury department is ready to fund any potential acquisitions, said Fewer. That said, the company feels it is still premature to set a target, he noted, adding that they’re monitoring the market for value and opportunity, which could be, at any kind of size.

Is Damac Properties also eyeing an Egypt investment? UAE property giant Damac Properties is reportedly studying an investment in Egypt and has conducted feasibility studies for such a move, an unnamed source reportedly told Al Mal. The study apparently singled out the New Administrative Capital as the likeliest opportunity. Damac reported net losses of over AED 1 bn for FY2020 on Sunday (pdf).