Dar Al Arkan is a real estate development company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), The company specializes in the development of master planned lifestyle residential communities offering developed land parcels, apartments and villas, as well as the mixed-use real estate, which is part of large residential communities, such as retail and commercial buildings. As a result Dar Al Arkan has evolved into a fully fledged all round mixed use real estate developer. Based in Riyadh, Dar Al Arkan was established in 1994 by six prominent business families, each with real estate development experience, in response to the increasing demand for quality housing from the rapidly growing Saudi population. From January 2000 to July 2004, Dar Al Arkan operated as a limited liability company with a capital base of SR140 million (US$37 million). Dar Al Arkan increased its capital to SR5.4 billion (US$1.4 billion) through a private placement in the domestic market in 2004 while converting to a partnership limited by shares. Subsequent to the private placement, Dar Al Arkan converted to a joint stock company in 2005. The founding shareholders currently own 81% of the Company, while 19% is held by other private investors. Recently, Dar Al Arkan achieved a 50% capital increase of SR3.6 Billion to jump up from SR 7.2 billion to an overall capital of SR10.8 Billion. The progression of Dar Al Arkan from a small real estate developer to one of the largest private sector providers of master-planned lifestyle communities in KSA is a result of consistent growth since its inception.