Al Nowais Group and Jones Lang LaSalle MENA launch JLL Auctions

Joint Venture Partnership will create first industrial auctioneers acting under a private license within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

Partners confident that the business will be the largest auction house in the region within five years, focussed across a number of core sectors

Jones Lang LaSalle, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, and the Al Nowais Group, one of the largest, most respected professional family businesses operating in the UAE, have today announced the launch of JLL Auctions , a Joint Venture Partnership owned and operated equally by both companies.

Headed by Patrick Ditcham, who has 25 years international valuation and auctioneering experience, the new business will be the first industrial auctioneers acting under a private license within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi with the ability to cover all sectors across the UAE and the broader GCC. This will initially include construction, oil & gas and the automotive sectors but will eventually be extended to include property, manufacturing, military and defence, petro-chemicals and marine.

JLL Auctions will host its first auction by the end of May and aims to have held at least six sales by the end of the year, increasing to 12 to 15 in 2013. Both partners are confident that JLL Auctions will be the largest auction house in the region within five years and will make Abu Dhabi the centre for industrial plant & machinery disposal services in the Gulf.

Abdulla J Al Nowais, CEO of Al Nowais Group, said: “We identified the opportunity to create and develop a regionally based auctions business several years ago. Market conditions are continually improving and the time is right to launch this new business. Jones Lang LaSalle has the international experience and regional reach to be able to do this with us. However we are not just looking to create a new auction facility in an existing market; this is about challenging the whole sales process in the industrial sector. Auctions offer a real alternative to more traditional methods of acquiring new plant such as buying it in new, or through official tender processes for stock being cleared and sold off by the Government or other large entities. These options can be expensive and time consuming.”

Commenting on the new business, Patrick Ditcham, Director of Auctions and Machinery Valuations for Jones Lang LaSalle MENA said: “This is not about fine art. This is about offering the

region’s industrial sector access to the more cost effective auctions process, enabling companies to buy and sell plant and machinery on the open market. JLL Auctions will provide a more comprehensive service offering a more direct, transparent and flexible option for both vendors and purchasers, giving them better returns than they currently get. We will create considerable efficiencies and cost savings for businesses that buy and sell plant as part of a broad variety of industrial processes”.

JLL Auctions is a natural partnership that builds on the strengths of both businesses to create real opportunity within the market place. The Al Nowais Group obtained the original Federal UAE license to carry out auctions in Abu Dhabi and across the country, giving it the best auction license for a private auction business looking to operate in the region. It also manages a diverse portfolio of business interests and consequently has an extensive network of commercial business and government contacts, which will assist in sourcing potential stock, as well as broad sector expertise.

Jones Lang LaSalle has over 150 years of international real estate and auction experience and will bring the very best international standards, transparency and ethics to the regional auction market. In the last 5 years it has undertaken over 1000 auctions globally, valued in excess of US$115 million in total sales. These sales have been carried out on behalf of the likes of KPMG, PWC, HSBC and Barclays amongst others. It also has regional scope, operating across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and has had offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

David Dudley, Head of Jones Lang LaSalle Abu Dhabi, concluded, “We are tremendously excited about this partnership of these two outstanding firms. Each has a reputation for excellence based on teamwork and putting clients first. Our new leadership team is already in place, consisting of senior directors from both firms, and their immediate focus will be to begin to realise the extraordinary potential of this JV for our clients and colleagues.”