Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the kingdom, has joined hands with Regent Properties, a real estate development and investment firm based in Los Angeles, US, to acquire a major stake in its existing portfolio of commercial real estate assets worth $250 million across the country.

The US group's real estate portfolio comprises substantially leased, income-generating Class-A office buildings in the Phoenix, Arizona and Dallas (Texas) areas.

With this transaction, Mumtalakat will be joining existing Regent investors including affiliates of BlackRock, CAM Capital, and other well-known endowments and pension funds.

According to Mumtalakat, the portfolio provides attractive cash yields and solid rent growth from strong credit tenants in a wide range of industries.

It also offers geographic diversification in two of the most dynamic, growing and business-friendly markets in the US. Both Phoenix and Dallas have been, and continue to, experience strong and steady employment growth, and provide more compelling risk/return profiles than highly priced gateway markets, said the Bahraini wealth fund.

The acquisition demonstrates Mumtalakat’s continued efforts and commitment to further develop its portfolio through commercially sound and sustainable investments, to diversify internationally and to build long-term partnerships with the potential to lead to further co-investment opportunities, it stated.

On the strategic tie-up, CEO Mahmood Hashim Alkooheji said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Regent Properties. They have assembled a unique commercial real estate portfolio in markets that provide us with a very attractive risk/reward profile."

"This transaction, our third investment in the US in less than two years, is in line with our ongoing strategy to partner with reputable international businesses looking for growth capital with a long-term investment horizon," he stated.

Eric Fleiss, the president of Regent Properties, said: "We are pleased to build a relationship with a well-regarded and highly entrepreneurial sovereign wealth fund such as Mumtalakat."

"We are honoured to welcome them to our investor group and view their participation in this transaction as a vote of confidence for our real estate investment strategy and our management team," he added.-TradeArabia News Service