SINGAPORE: Dubai investment firm Istithmar is in talks to buy at least $250 million worth of real estate assets in Asia, the head of its property arm said yesterday.

"We currently have a number of acquisitions in progress.

(The deals) we are actively considering could double the size of our Asian investments this year," Istithmar Real Estate's managing director Richard Johnson said.

The bulk of these deals will be in North Asia, in particular China.

"We are looking across a broad range of sectors including residential, offices, hotels and retail," Johnson said.

Istithmar, the private equity arm of the Dubai government, has a global real estate portfolio valued at $7-8 billion.

About half of those assets are in the US, with the Middle East and Europe accounting for 20 and 15 per cent respectively.

Johnson said 5pc of Istithmar's global property portfolio is invested in Asia currently, although the firm has been active in Southeast Asia in the last 12 months.

Istithmar took a 9.6pc stake in hotels-based CDL Hospitality Trusts shortly after the property trust was spun off by Singapore's City Developments last July.

Earlier this month, Istithmar entered a joint venture with Thai developer Amburaya Resorts to build a luxury hotel on the island of Koh Samui.

In December, it acquired a 24.99 percent stake in Thai developer Raimon Land.

It also has an investment in Macau.