Dubai's largest developer, Emaar Properties, has launched a Dh60 billion ($16.3 billion) all-cash bid to buy out the remaining shares of its residential arm, Emaar Development, in a move that would end the subsidiary's run as a publicly listed company on the Dubai Financial Market.

Under the proposal unveiled on Wednesday, Emaar Properties — which already owns just over 79 per cent of Emaar Development — would pay Dh15 in cash for every share it does not already hold. The offer must still be approved by Emaar Properties' board, and no firm timeline for completion has been set.

Investors responded positively: shares in Emaar Development jumped 4.9 per cent on the day the offer was announced. Emaar Development, Dubai's biggest listed residential developer, booked Dh22.4 billion in property sales in the first half of 2026 and posted a 43 per cent jump in net profit to Dh6.7 billion over the same period.

The buyout proposal landed on the same day Emaar Properties reported a strong nine-month performance for the wider group: pre-tax profit of Dh19.8 billion, up 18 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of Dh37.5 billion, a 13 per cent rise. Emaar founder Mohamed Alabbar said the results reflected progress across the company's construction sites, residential handovers and management of its destinations, with more than 80 per cent of active UAE projects running ahead of schedule.

If approved, the deal would fold Emaar Development fully back into its privately structured parent after years as one of the most actively traded stocks on the Dubai bourse, marking one of the largest take-private transactions in the UAE's capital markets history. Analysts note the move would simplify Emaar's corporate structure and tighten its grip on the group's flagship residential pipeline, at a time when Dubai's property market keeps posting strong sales despite softer hotel occupancy.