Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has acquired a multi-million-dollar mortgage portfolio from Abu Dhabi Finance (ADF) as part of its diversification strategy.

The bank said on Sunday that it has signed an agreement covering approximately 1,000 mortgages with a gross book value of 1.13 billion dirhams ($308 million).

About 76 percent of the portfolio are residential mortgages and 24 percent are commercial mortgages.

All the mortgages are conventional, with just under half collateralised by real estate in Abu Dhabi, and the remainder distributed across Dubai and other emirates in the UAE.

In a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), where its shares trade, ADCB said ADF customers are expected to move to the lender’s banking platform in the first half of 2021, subject to the transaction receiving approval from the Central Bank of the UAE and other relevant authorities.

“The acquisition of this collateralised portfolio expands our mortgage book, enhancing the diversification of our assets and customer base,” Arup Mukhopadhyay, the head of the consumer banking group at ADCB, said.

“The bank continues to invest significantly to provide a leading real estate finance offering. We have enhanced our digital capabilities and partnered with leading property companies to offer attractive and comprehensive home purchase packages.”

ADF is an Abu Dhabi-focused conventional mortgage specialist that has played a key role in the development and transformation of the real estate finance sector.

ADCB last month said it made a net profit of 3.8 billion dirhams for the full-year 2020, down 27 percent from the previous year.

(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Cleofe Maceda)

brinda.darasha@refinitiv.com

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