Kuwait’s Bayan Investment Company plans to develop a $1.2 billion project in Jordan as part of an expansion drive into undervalued Arab markets, the firm’s managing director said.

The company, which invests for its own account and for customers in markets inside and outside Kuwait, said the Jordanian projects would be its largest regional investment so far after a $800 million real estate project under way in Bahrain.
Chairman and managing director Faisal Al Mutawa said Bayan hoped to finalise within a month a deal with Jordanian officials to get a licence to develop large tracts of prime property in the capital to construct four large commercial and residential projects including hotels and tower blocks.
“We have reached an advanced stage in negotiations with the government. We hope to conclude signing these projects in the second half of this month or early June,” Mutawa said.
Bayan has signed initial accords with local municipal bodies after completing feasibility and design studies on the four projects following more than a year of talks, Mutawa said.
“The total capital investment of these projects is $1.2 billion,” Mutawa said.
Once a final deal is concluded, Bayan expects to raise capital by the end of September from interested GCC investors for a holding company, Petra, that will be the owner of its Jordanian projects, Mutawa said.
The projects should be completed within a 40-month period.