AHS Properties buys Shangri-La Hotel Dubai for $300m

UAE-based AHS Properties has announced that it has entered into a deal with Mismak Asset Management to acquire Shangri-La Hotel for AED1.1 billion ($300 million) in one of the largest single-asset real estate transactions recorded in recent history. 

A 43-floor, 200-m tower located on the Sheikh Zayed Road, Shangri-La Hotel was one of the first five-star hotels to open on the corridor when it was completed in 2003.

Announcing the takeover, AHS Properties said the acquisition adds an iconic anchor asset to a portfolio that already includes AHS Tower, a recently sold-out Grade-A commercial development on Sheikh Zayed Road, and AHS City, the developer’s flagship master-planned, mixed-use community on the corridor with a forecast gross development value of AED25 billion.

Together, these three assets form a vertical corridor play: AHS Tower, AHS City, and now Shangri-La Hotel. The combined footprint represents a significant share of AHS Properties' AED 50 billion year-end 2026 pipeline, it added.

On the strategic buy, Abbas Sajwani, Founder and CEO of AHS Properties, said: "We did not buy a hotel. We bought a position on a corridor where supply is structurally constrained and demand is globally diversified. This is more than an acquisition for AHS Properties. It’s a statement of our long-term confidence in Dubai, in the strength of its real estate sector, and in its continued appeal to global capital."

The acquisition reflects AHS Properties strategy of deploying capital into structurally constrained assets, he added.

According to him, the acquisition has no impact on the hotel’s day-to-day operations, and guests can continue to enjoy the exceptional service and hospitality they have come to expect. The property remains an important part of AHS Properties’ broader Sheikh Zayed Road portfolio.

"The Shangri-La Hotel sits on land that will not be released again. The first five-star hotels on Sheikh Zayed Road were built once, more than 20 years ago. This is not a deal that anyone, including us, will be able to do twice," remarked Sajwani. "That is the reason this acquisition makes sense at this scale," he added.-TradeArabia News Service