CAIRO: After selling their stake in Emaar Egypt to their Emirate partners, Artoc have re-entered the Egyptian real estate market in the form of the newly launched Artoc Universal Properties. This time though, the partners are not from the Middle East. Artoc Universal Properties has been formed in conjunction with Universal Builders Supply, Inc of the USA and John Cushman, chairman of Cushman and Wakefield. Initial paid-in capital is LE 57 million ($10 million), and the company split is 70 percent for the Egyptian shareholders and 30 percent for the American shareholders. Authorized capital for the project is $200 million and Issued capital is $100 million. At the Four Seasons Hotel, a press conference was held to announce the launch Sunday. Artoc chairman Mohammed Shafik Gabr said "the real estate market in Egypt is not yet saturated. It is in other countries, but not this one. The real estate boom has only really taken off in the past 24 months. Gabr and his partners refused to specify the particular projects and their locations, but did mention that the initial impetus would be to begin with the building of commercial office blocks. Chairman of Universal Builders, the largest scaffolding and hoisting company in the US, Tony O'Callaghan stated that the American partners bring competitive advantages to the new company as well as a multitude of well established contacts abroad. When asked about building more affordable housing, Gabr said: "Egypt must introduce long term finance for housing, alluding to the introduction of a viable mortgage system which would help people finance housing purchases. Gabr also said that it is his ambition for Artoc Universal Properties to eventually work on projects outside Egypt. The new company expects to develop real estate in the areas of commercial, residential and hospitality projects. Last year, Artoc signed a partnership with the Emirate Emaar Properties to form Emaar Egypt, which developed real estate in places such as Moqqatam, New Cairo and Sidi Abdel-Rahman in Alexandria. Artoc sold their take to the Dubai firm earlier this year after differences between the partners.
