UPDATE 1-Abu Dhabi's Mubadala eyes U.S. real estate firm

(Adds background, details, quotes)

By Stanley Carvalho

ABU DHABI, March 30 (Reuters) - Mubadala Development Co, an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle that manages over $10 billion of assets, said on Sunday it is in talks to buy a stake in a U.S. real estate firm with which it will develop regional projects.

Mubadala, whose global shareholdings including a 7.5 percent stake in the Carlyle Group [CYL.UL], could buy a stake in Chicago-based The John Buck Co, its chief financial officer Carlos Obeid said in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.

Earlier on Sunday, Mubadala said it had set up a real estate firm with John Buck to build projects in Abu Dhabi, which controls the world's fifth-largest oil reserves, and across the Middle East.

"We are in discussions with The John Buck Co to take a stake in the company," Obeid told a news conference, without giving further details.

Mubadala is the latest state investment agency and sovereign wealth fund (SWF) to buy stakes in Western firms, many ailing from the fallout of a subprime mortgage market crisis in the United States.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, regarded as the world's largest SWF, last year agreed to buy $7.5 billion of stock in Citigroup Inc (C.N), which could write down about $12 billion in the first quarter, Goldman Sachs said last month.

Regional investors have also been interested in U.S. real estate.

Bahraini Islamic investment bank Arcapital said in February it was looking at investing in the U.S. residential real estate sector after prices were hit by the mortgage crisis.

Emaar Properties EMAR.DU, the largest Arab developer by market value, also entered the U.S. market in 2006 when it bought a stake in John Laing Homes.

"Real estate has always been a critical factor in Mubadala's strategy and our joint venture with John Buck will focus on commercial real estate development in Abu Dhabi first and the region later," Obeid said of the new company.

John Buck International, in which Mubadala will hold a 51 percent stake, will be based in Abu Dhabi and will focus on real estate, leasing and management services, Mubadala said in a statement.

The firm would begin by developing Suwa island in Abu Dhabi, London-based magazine Middle East Economic Digest reported earlier this month.

The island will include a stock exchange, commercial and residential buildings, a hotel and a hospital, MEED said. (Writing by John Irish; Editing by Sue Thomas)