Ammon News - * Project part of $1 bln Samarah development run by Emaar

AMMAN - Aabar Investments AABAR.AD has set up a joint venture with regional investors to build a Hilton managed hotel on Jordan's Dead Sea waterfront, part of a $1 billion development in the area, shareholders said on Tuesday.

Abu Dhabi-listed Aabar will hold a 45 percent stake in the newly set up Dead Sea Resort Company, while the rest of the stake will be held by Jordan's Dead Sea Touristic and Real Estate Investment Company, a private holding company, whose largest shareholder is Dubai's Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU).

The joint venture, set up with an initial 67 million dinars ($94 mln) capital, will along with owning an existing $40 million convention centre build an adjoining $70 million 285-room Hilton managed resort developed by Emaar to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2013, Jordan's Dead Sea Touristic and Real Estate Investment Company said.

The joint venture arranged 20 million dinars of financing for the Hilton resort project with Jordan's largest lender Arab Bank ARBK.AM.

"Jordan has robust economic fundamentals and the Dead Sea region offers strong potential for growth in hospitality and tourism," said Mohamed Al-Husseiny, the CEO of Aabar, the emirate's fastest growing investment vehicle with stakes in Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and Virgin Galactic.

Aabar, which has significant investments in Abu Dhabi's real estate sector is controlled by the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), wholly-owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.

Aabar's partners, Jordan Dead Sea Touristic and Real Estate Investment, have since 2006 been developing in partnership with Emaar the estimated $1 bln four-phase Samarah project, a cluster of multi-use residential, retail and leisure units to be completed by 2018.

Aabar's entry as a strategic partner has raised the hopes of the other shareholders that Aabar, could raise its future investments in the prime area which has attracted international hotel chains such as Holiday Inn and Movenpick in recent years.

The once sleepy border strip with Israel, at the lowest point on earth, has seen hundreds of millions of dollars of investments where a cluster of resorts is transforming it into one of the fastest-growing regional tourist destinations.

Hilton, the U.S.-based hotel chain, is the world's fourth largest hotel chain by number of rooms and is expanding its presence in the Middle East.

Hilton's Worldwide President and CEO Christopher Nassetta, said the Dead Sea site made it "a prized asset".

"Jordan is an important market for us in our regional development strategy," Nassetta said, adding it would complement two Hilton managed properties in the Kingdom under development in the capital Amman and in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba.

* By Suleiman al-Khalidi/ Reuters