Mubasher: Al Salam Bank – Bahrain, dually listed on Bahrain Bourse and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), has sold a portfolio of seven multifamily assets in the US for $182.5 million, exceeding the original underwriting.

The bank acquired the 2,032-unit portfolio in North Carolina and Texas in 2016 and carried out several upgrades to enhance the assets' value and exit from the investment in 2021, according to the bank's disclosure to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Tuesday.

However, the bank achieved and exceeded the expected financial results from this investment, which led to an early exit. 

The bank's head of  Private Banking, Ali Habib Qassim, noted: "The US real estate market showed steady appreciation over the investment period, with some pockets seeing spurts of accelerated growth. The exit comes at an opportune time, ahead of the uncertainty of the current COVID-19 pandemic."

Qassim added: "With the current volatile environment bringing new attractive opportunities which are being assessed on an opportunistic basis, the decision to exit early has enabled our investors to increase the cash allocation in their respective portfolios in anticipation of tactical deployment over the coming period."