Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.

is exploring a deal to buy a luxury hotel on

Dubai

’s Palm Jumeirah, according to people familiar with the matter.

The investment firm is in talks to purchase Sofitel Dubai The Palm in a transaction that could value the property at about 2 billion dirhams, the people said, requesting anonymity as the information is private. If completed, the acquisition will mark Brookfield’s first hotel investment in Dubai.

Deliberations are ongoing, and there is no certainty a deal will be reached. A spokesperson for Brookfield declined to comment.

The 546-room property on the artificial island is operated by French hospitality group Accor SA, though details on the hotel’s ownership structure were not available.

Brookfield has emerged as one of the most active foreign investors in the Middle East, deploying capital across infrastructure, real-estate and private equity.

In May, it partnered with Abu Dhabi-based asset manager Lunate on a US$1 billion joint venture to invest in residential real-estate across the region. Merex Investment, its joint venture with a conglomerate owned by Dubai’s ruler, is preparing to redevelop a stretch of the city’s seafront that is popular with tourists and residents.

The firm is also considering a mixed-use development in Dubai Hills for its first residential real-estate project in the city, Bloomberg News has reported.

Dubai’s property boom has drawn institutional capital, as the emirate cements its status as a destination for both tourists and wealthy residents.

The hospitality sector has been no exception, with investors increasingly seeking exposure to the city’s fast-growing hotel market. Between January and May, average occupancy rates in the city stood at 83 per cent, up from 81 per cent in the same period last year, according to official data.

At least 15 hotels have changed hands over the past 30 months, which is more than all transactions during the previous decade, according to real estate consultant Knight Frank. A subsidiary of Kuwait-listed Arzan Financial Group acquired the Fairmont Palm Dubai for US$325 million in January and the VOCO Bonnington in Jumeirah Lake Towers late last year.

Bloomberg.com