Solidere
Encyclopedia
Solidere s.a.l. is a Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 joint-stock company
Société anonyme libanaise
“Société anonyme libanaise,” abbreviated s.a.l., is the French term for a joint stock company in Lebanon. Its main characteristic is the intuitus pecuniae—the financial involvement of each associate....

 in charge of planning and redeveloping
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 Beirut Central District
Beirut Central District
The Beirut Central District or Centre Ville is the name given to Beirut’s historical and geographical core, the “vibrant financial, commercial, and administrative hub of the country.” At the heart of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut Central District is an area thousands of years old, traditionally a...

 following the conclusion, in 1990, of the country’s devastating civil war
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...

. By agreement with the government, Solidere enjoys special powers of eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...

 as well as a limited regulatory authority codified in law, making the company a unique form of public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...

.

Solidere was founded on May 5, 1994 by then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure...

 and was incorporated as a privately owned company listed on the stock exchange. The name “Solidere” stands for Société libanaise pour le développement et la reconstruction de Beyrouth, French for “The Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut.”

Projects

Solidere is widely credited as the most important force behind Beirut’s reemergence, in recent years, as a bustling urban destination with a chance to earn back its ancient title of “Paris of the Middle East.” Solidere's main functions are the supervision of the government-authorized reconstruction plan, financing and developing the infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

, new construction and rehabilitation of war-torn structures, urban landscaping
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...

 and the management of property. Solidere has worked to attract global retailers such as Virgin Megastores to Beirut Central District. The company’s most significant single project to date has been Beirut Souks
Beirut Souks
The Beirut Souks is a major commercial district in Beirut Central District. With over 200 shops and a department store, it is Beirut's largest shopping area, as well as the most dense.The souks have historically been at the commercial heart of Beirut...

, a 100,000 m2 retail center that was scheduled to open by year 2008, however opened in 2009. Other ongoing developments include the Hadiqat As-Samah (Garden of Forgiveness
Garden of Forgiveness
The Garden of Forgiveness, , is under development in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon, where it straddles the Green Line, once the battle line where much of the heaviest fighting took place during the Lebanese Civil War...

), Platinum Tower
Platinum Tower (Beirut)
Platinum Tower is a highrise residential building currently the tallest in Beirut, Lebanon. It occupies a large plot on the Saint George Bay Marina, and will be connected to the marina in the future by a pedestrian bridge. This luxury tower was a 'Hourie Development' project, designed by Ricardo...

 and the Marina Towers
Marina Towers (Beirut)
Marina Towers project is a residential complex in Beirut, Lebanon. It is located near the Beirut Marina and consists of a high-rise apartment building, Marina Tower, and two mid-rise apartment buildings, Marina Court and Marina Garden....

 luxury residential complex, and now very majorly the Beirut Gate and Phoenician village projects planned for the near future.

Financials

Solidere’s shares are listed on the Beirut
Beirut Stock Exchange
The Beirut Stock Exchange is the principal stock exchange of Lebanon. Located in Beirut, it is a public institution run by a committee including a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman and eight members appointed via a decree issued by the Council of Ministers, in accordance with a proposal by the Minister of...

 and Kuwait Stock Exchange
Kuwait Stock Exchange
The Kuwait Stock Exchange is the national stock market of The State of Kuwait. Although several share holding companies existed in Kuwait prior to the creation of the KSE, it was not until October 1962 that a law was passed to organize the country's stock market.The Kuwait Stock Exchange is also...

, and its Global Depository Receipt
Global Depository Receipt
A global depository receipt or global depositary receipt is a certificate issued by a depository bank, which purchases shares of foreign companies and deposits it on the account...

s trade on the London
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

, Frankfurt
Frankfurt Stock Exchange
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. Located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is owned and operated by Deutsche Börse, which also owns the European futures exchange Eurex and the clearing company...

 and Luxembourg Stock Exchange
Luxembourg Stock Exchange
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange is a stock exchange based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg.The Exchange is located on avenue de la Porte-Neuve,...

s. Its share price on the Beirut exchange has risen sharply in recent years, from about US$5 in early 2004 to a high of US$26 in February 2006. http://www.ameinfo.com/financial_markets/Lebanon/Company_LB0013/ In June 2006, Solidere approved a US$100M dividends payout to its shareholders.

Most of Solidere’s investors are European and North American investment firms or Arab investors from the Gulf. Rafik Hariri's share in the company has been a controversial subject in the Lebanese political spectrum. Some rumors say that he owned a majority stake in Solidere before his assassination in 2005, and the Hariri family continues to be a principal shareholder today. However, the Hariri family rejected those rumors saying that Rafik Hariri owned only 6% of the company's shares. http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2006/07/verbal_clashes.php.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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