Abaar Investments – PJS (a subsidiary of Mubadala) on a dispute involving one of Abu Dhabi’s biggest property management companies

Summary

Our client, Abaar Investments – PJS (a subsidiary of Mubadala), was a party to a Utility Agreement as a lessor of two luxury buildings in Abu Dhabi. The lessee to the agreement was one of Abu Dhabi’s biggest property management companies. A dispute arose as the lessee didn’t fulfil its contractual obligations.

Details

The dispute arose as our client claimed that the lessee did not fulfil its contractual obligations. As per the Utility Agreement all the obligations of the landlord transferred to the lessee inclusive of the air conditioning payments, the facility management payments, electricity and water payments and the insurance payments in exchange for the rent amount agreed upon in the Utility Agreement.

However, the lessee failed to carry on its obligations to the extent that the lease failed to utilize the buildings, of which not a single unit was leased, and the lessee failed to make any of the payments of the liabilities upon the buildings, which obliged our client to make the payments on the lessee’s behalf.

We advised our client that due to no sign of cooperation from the lessee, proceedings should be initiated before the Abu Dhabi Commercial Courts.

During the proceedings the court assigned a tribunal of three experts: an engineering expert, an accounting expert and a real estate expert. The outcome of the experts’ report was in favour of the client, determining that the client was owed all the amounts claimed for plus 5% contractual interest from the beginning of the contract till the date of the claim. The total amount was approx. AED 37,500 excluding interest.

The Court of First Instance, as well as the Courts of Appeal and Cassation, all rendered favourable decisions in our client's favour.

Following that, we were instructed to initiate a civil lawsuit seeking to terminate the utility contract. We achieved a favourable decision for our client at the Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal.

How we added value

Horizons & Co. Law Firm's litigation department played a critical role in this dispute, as our strategy successfully positioned the client in such a way that the expert tribunal concluded that all of the client's claims are legitimate. This is a testament to our ability to devise effective case strategy for clients, built upon years of litigating in the UAE courts and our profound knowledge of the intricacies and technicalities of the real estate sector.

We invest time and technology in developing the most robust case strategies, thorough research, gathering evidence, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and anticipating potential challenges. With our established position in the UAE market and extensive network, we are also able to bring in the any technical or industry experts as needed to ensure we have the best approach in place to ensure success.