Emaar Properties PJSC is considering plans to take over its listed construction arm in a potential multibillion-dollar deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

The firm, which owns just over 79% of Emaar Development PJSC, could unveil plans for a transaction as soon as the next few days, some of the people said, declining to be identified because the information is confidential. The construction unit is valued at more than $14 billion at current share prices, meaning a deal could cost Emaar Properties as much as $3 billion.

Deliberations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made on the structure or price of any deal, the people said. The company could eventually decide to not proceed with a transaction, they said. Representatives for Emaar Properties did not respond to requests for comment.

Any deal would come just over a month after the firm said said it was evaluating proposals to create value for shareholders. Emaar Properties didn’t provide further details, though it’s due to hold a board meeting this week to assess the proposals, and has said it has requested legal and financial advice.

JPMorgan analysts led by Taher Safieddine said in a September note there are a few ways for the firm to create more shareholder value, including acquiring the remaining stake in Emaar Development, buying the developer’s residential leasing portfolio under construction, or mergers, acquisitions and spinoffs within the broader Emaar portfolio.

Shares in Emaar Development have risen about 10% this week, though the stock has fallen by roughly a third since the war began, underperforming the broader Dubai benchmark. Get the Mideast Money newsletter, a weekly look at the intersection of wealth and power in the region.

Led by billionaire Mohamed Alabbar and best known as the developer of the world’s tallest tower, Emaar Properties, had raised about $1.3 billion from the listing of its construction arm in 2017. The deal then ranked among the largest offerings in the United Arab Emirates since Emaar listed its malls business three years earlier.

Emaar Malls was eventually delisted at about two-thirds of its original public-offering price after an all-share deal during the Covid-19 pandemic. Months later, fellow billionaire Hussain Sajwani moved to take Damac Properties PJSC private at a nearly 45% discount to its 2015 listing price.

The delistings stoked concerns they would drive investors away from Dubai’s stock market, already struggling to recover from a pandemic-driven selloff.

Emaar’s latest plans come at another difficult moment for Dubai as it grapples with the economic fallout from the Iran war, now in its ninth month. Its shareholding structure also changed in May, when a firm controlled by Dubai’s ruler bought a $6.5 billion stake from the emirate’s main investment vehicle.

Still, Dubai’s housing market has remained relatively resilient even as the Iran war rattled investors and ended the city’s longest-running property boom. The market posted its second-best first half on record this year, supported by population growth, according to the UAE central bank.