Aabar soars on Algeria car deal

Aabar Investments shares rose to their highest in nine months after the Abu Dhabi-controlled company revealed its involvement in a project to manufacture cars in Algeria. The company's stock gained 5.2 per cent yesterday to close at Dh2.81 after rising by as much as 7.1 per cent in Dubai. Aabar's stock has surged more then 50 per cent in the past month on the back of announcements about global investments it has made which have included stakes in UK entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic commercial space venture and sports car maker Tesla Motors.

On Monday Aabar said it had signed a deal with the Algerian government and five German companies to build up to 10,000 cars and lorries a year in the North African country from 2010. Daimler, in which Aabar purchased a 9.1 per cent stake in March, and the machinery supplier MAN Ferrostaal, are also involved in the agreement with the Algerian ministries of defence and industry. Aabar's parent company, the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), owns 70 per cent of MAN Ferrostaal.