Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate Sells Land Worth $697m To Government

Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate will sell land worth QAR2.54 billion ($697.4 million) to the government, it said in a statement on Wednesday, the latest state assistance which the indebted developer has received.

In exchange for the plot of land in Lusail City, Barwa received QAR1.04 billion in cash, while the government also settled QAR1.5 billion of the developer’s bank loans, according to the bourse filing. The size of the plot of land was not given in the statement.

The sale was agreed on September 30 and will have a positive impact on the company’s financials, it said, although Barwa did not specify which quarter the deal would be logged in.

It is the latest bailout move for the company, which has struggled with its debt burden despite a massive building boom in the Gulf Arab state related to new infrastructure and preparations to host the 2022 soccer World Cup.

Qatari Diar, the real estate arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, stepped in with financial aid last year, agreeing to buy some of Barwa’s assets for $7.1 billion. In June this year, Barwa said it was selling a 95 per cent stake in Barwa Commercial Avenue Co to Qatari Diar for QAR9 billion riyals.