Arada to deploy Australian construction arm in GCC and UK

• Arada bought Roberts Co last May
• Sees most need in Saudi Arabia
• UAE costs increasing

UAE developer Arada will import its Australian contracting company Roberts Co to the Emirates to support its projects in the region and the UK, group CEO Ahmed Alkhoshaibi told AGBI.

The group has 55,000 homes and AED130 billion ($35 billion) of projects in its existing and future pipeline, the chief executive said. The developer mainly works out of the UAE, but has a business in Australia and London as of last year, and plans for Riyadh to be announced this year.

“We acquired a contractor in Australia, Roberts Co, a tier one contractor. They do a lot of schools, hospitals, residential and government. They’re well established in that market,” said Alkhoshaibi. “Our London business has its own contractor, but we plan to bring Roberts Co there as well. Then we plan to bring Roberts Co to the UAE.”

“In Saudi, there is a need. We’re setting up in the UAE to get them going, then bridge to Saudi. The main thing for us to operate in Saudi is we must have a very strong delivery arm.”

He did not specify when the contractor would be brought to the Gulf. 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has warned that delays of more than two years to set up domestic factories risk undermining efforts to localise construction supply chains during the kingdom’s building boom.

AGBI exclusively reported this month that Arada would be unveiling two large-scale masterplans in Riyadh soon. 

Arada acquired Roberts Co last May, saying it would pump up to $100 million to bring the company to “new markets”. The goal is to achieve $1 billion in annual revenue by 2028. 

For the UAE specifically, Alkhoshaibi said the contractor is more of a “nice to have”, than a need.

“Initially I was avoiding contracting. I won’t do it in a way where everything will fall under [our own contractor]. I think the UAE still has enough contractors. I only do it if I need to. In Australia, there were no contractors left. They all went bankrupt or don’t have the quality. But the UAE has good contractors,” he said.

“So we don’t need it [in the UAE] but it’s a good option to have.”  

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Construction costs in the UAE remain elevated, albeit stabilising. They rose about 2-3 percent in 2024 and are forecast to increase by a further 2-5 percent by the end of 2025, driven by labour shortages, inflationary pressures and supply-chain constraints, according to Stonehaven’s UAE Construction Cost Benchmarking Report 2025.

In Dubai, the largest real estate market in the country, other developers have voiced concerns over finding quality contractors. Deyaar CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Qatami told AGBI in October that it is “very challenging” to find good builders. 

“There are still good contractors available, but they’re facing issues with supply chains and with the subcontractors [they use],” he said. 

In October one of the region’s largest contracting companies, Alec Holdings, announced it would pursue an initial public offering with 20 percent of its shares.