Bahrain Real Estate Investment Company (Edamah) said it has reached an agreement to acquire a stake in the Bahrain Car Parks Company in exchange for the transfer of the operational utilisation’ rights for a period of 99 years in one of the parking buildings owned by the company.

Edamah is the real estate arm of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the country's sovereign wealth fund which focuses on managing and promoting a diversified real estate portfolio across the kingdom.

Bahrain Car Park Company, a publicly-listed company on the Bahrain Bourse, is a specialist in the construction, development and management of parking lots.

This comes in line with Edamah’s strategy to diversify its investment portfolio, where the MoU opens doors for it to purchase shares of the publicly-listed Bahraini shareholding company.

In addition, to boost efficiency and profitability, the agreement assigns Bahrain Car Parks Company as the exclusive manager of all car park buildings currently owned by Edamah, as well as car park buildings that will be developed in the future.

The MoU is part of Edamah’s larger long-term strategy to develop new projects, renovate previous projects, and manage them all to global standards and best practices.

The company prides itself on exercising stringent corporate governance laws that include the highest forms of transparency, which boost its commitment to sustainable development.

Speaking on the deal, CEO Amin Alarrayed, said: "The MoU builds an effective framework to bring a valuable addition for Edamah, to expand its real estate investment and management efforts into car park buildings."

"Revamping current properties that support the trade and tourism sectors in the kingdom reflects our commitment to contribute to the growth of the national economy," he added.

Ismael Al Marhoon, the chairman of Bahrain Car Parks Company, said: "We are delighted to have inked this collaboration in partnership with Edamah, which will establish mutual support in the management of parking areas."

"This agreement feeds into our primal strategy that focuses on developing and efficiently managing parking spaces aiming to provide services that meet the customers’ expectations. In addition to implementing the latest developments and introducing innovative and valuable services," he added.-TradeArabia News Service