From: Sultan Bin Sulayem To: Mohammed Al Abbaar Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:41:48 +0000 >, Jeffrey Epstein <[email protected]> Dubai's ICD, Brookfield to launch $1bn real estate fund By Joanne Bladd Wednesday, 26 October 2011 12:29 PM IThe fund will be capped at $1bn, the two companies said Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), a state-controlled company, and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management plan to start a $1bn fund to buy up assets in Dubai's battered real estate market. The fund will be jointly backed by the two companies, which will each seed the fund with $100m, the Dubai Media Office said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. The fund will be capped at SIbn. The pair will anchor the fund, with a limited number of local and international parties invited to invest in the scheme, the statement said. "The investment strategy of the fund will target opportunities currently available in the Dubai real estate sector, with a focus on a wide class of assets in both freehold and non-freehold areas," the statement said. "The fund will have a life of 8 to 10 years." Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, CEO of ICD, said the company was "looking forward to participating in the recovery of the Dubai real estate market." "This venture with Brookfield is the first 'Dubai-only' investment fund that is sponsored by a leading international investor," he said. ICD holds about $70bn in assets and its portfolio includes airline Emirates and stakes in Dubai's largest bank, Emirates NBD, developer Emaar Properties and Borse Dubai. Brookfields, a global asset manager with interests in property and infrastructure, plans to relocate employees to Dubai to oversee the fund, alongside "qualified UAE nationals", the statement said. The company has 2,000 staff in Dubai through its construction arm, Brookfield Multiplex. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, chairman of Dubai's Supreme Fiscal Committee, said the signing was "another big step" in the Gulf emirate's econ