Category: Economy

The planned merger of the United Arab Emirates’ two main stock exchanges, home to the second-best performing share gauge in the world, will take more time to complete, according to a Dubai government official.“It’s still on the table,” Mohammed Al Shaibani, chief executive officer of Investment Corp. of Dubai, the emirate’s main state-owned holding company, said in an interview today at a Dubai conference. “We were hoping it would happen earlier. We knew that when the markets started to pick

|By TAP Staff| The Dubai International Financial Centre Court appointed Philip Bowers and Neville Kahn of advisory firm Deloitte as joint provisional liquidators of Portuguese financial group Espirito Santo’s Dubai subsidiary ES Bankers (Dubai) Ltd (ESBD.This came after the regulator was informed ESBD was "no longer able to meet its obligations and continue as a going concern", the statement added.The DIFC action is the latest in a series of international regulatory actions taken against the family's collapsed business empire.The family's

AirAsia is in talks to relaunch flights to the United Arab Emirates from its hubs in Southeast Asia, and has this time chosen Dubai rather than Abu Dhabi for its Western expansion.The low-cost airline's founder Tony Fernandes was in Dubai Wednesday to talk to officials about flying Airbus Group NV A330 jets into one of the emirate's two airports, Dubai International or Al Maktoum International.AirAsia also hopes to eventually win a license to set up a hub in Dubai that

Dubai's Emirates Airline, the world's largest carrier by international traffic flown, has signed a deal with TAAG Angola Airlines to manage the carrier for 10 years and cooperate on "commercial opportunities" in Africa. The Gulf carrier, which also has a partnership agreement with Australia's Qantas Airways, will code-share on cargo and passenger services, participate in each carrier's frequent flier programs and coordinate ground handling, Emirates said in a statement on Tuesday. Emirates has agreed to appoint four senior staff to work for

|By TAP Staff| Emaar Malls Group, the shopping mall operator based in Dubai,  said Monday that it had raised $1.6 billion in its initial public offering. Emaar Malls, which owns the Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping centers in the world, with 3.7 million square feet in leasable space and 75 million visitors last year, is being spun off from Emaar Properties, the property giant that is also based in Dubai. The mall operator priced its offering at 2.90 dirhams, or

A landmark ruling by the court system in Dubai's financial free zone suggests the emirate is starting to influence the way international business disputes are resolved in the Middle East, partly taking over that role from London and New York.Last month a court in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) found Switzerland's Bank Sarasin had mis-sold $200 million of investment products to Kuwait's prominent Khorafi family, ordering it to pay compensation.Sarasin, which denied any wrongdoing, may appeal the ruling, and

Dubai's stock market looks set to see an influx of cash this week when Emaar Malls Group returns to investors the surplus funds from subscriptions to its initial public offer, which could boost the prices of other stocks.EMG, a subsidiary of Dubai's largest listed developer Emaar Properties, closed subscriptions last Friday and will announce the final offer price on Monday, according to its prospectus.Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that the offer's institutional tranche had been subscribed

|By TAP Staff| Shareholders of Dubai's Amlak Finance have approved the issuance of a sharia-compliant instrument convertible into its stock worth up to 2.1 billion dirhams ($571.8 million), a statement from the mortgage provider said on Sunday.The instrument is a key part of the company's $2.7 billion debt restructuring plan, agreed with creditors in August.Amlak, whose shares have not traded on the Dubai Financial Market since November 2008, also agreed to convene a shareholder meeting to approval the resumption of

|By TAP Staff| Dubai buyout firm Abraaj is teaming up with TPG Capital, based in Fort Worth, Texas, for a deal to buy a majority stake in Saudi Arabian fast-food chain Kudu, it has been reported.Kudu operates about 200 outlets in Saudi Arabia selling grilled chicken sandwiches, burgers and breakfasts.According to Bloomberg, the pickup in Middle East investment comes as dealmaking by private-equity firms in the West has slowed.The value of buyouts in the U.S. slumped by 76 percent to

DIFC Investments LLC, which owns properties in the Dubai International Financial Center business park, said it plans to raise about $700 million from an Islamic bond sale to repay debt and fund development as borrowing costs decline.The state-controlled company, which is planning to issue the sukuk before the end of October, will use the proceeds to repay the $650 million outstanding on a syndicated loan, DIFC Governor Essa Kazim said at a news conference in Dubai today. The remainder will

The start of the United Arab Emirates’ first consumer credit-rating bureau last week will help banks better deal with bad loans six years after one of the world’s worst property crashes.“Banks will intensify their analysis of their existing portfolios,” Marwan Ahmad Lutfi, chief executive officer of the Al Etihad Credit Bureau said in an interview in Dubai today. The reports will allow banks to decide how much to lend to their customers, he said.Loan defaults in the U.A.E., the second-biggest

|By TAP Staff| Dubai's Emaar Properties said on Wednesday that its existing shareholders will be allocated one share in its malls unit IPO for every 36 held in the parent firm.Shareholders can buy the shares in Emaar Malls Group (EMG) on a preferential basis at the price that is set by the institutional book building process, the company said in a statement to Dubai's bourse.Emaar is aiming to sell 2 billion shares in EMG, representing 15.4 percent of the unit's

Arabtec Holding said on Tuesday it was unaware of any stake sale agreement between its largest shareholders following reports that the company's former chief executive was about to sell at least part of his stake.Arabtec "does not have the information" on such a deal, it said in a bourse statement.Shares in Arabtec jumped 3.7 percent to 4.77 dirhams on Monday following a report that its former chief executive Hasan Ismaik had agreed to sell half of his 27.9 percent

Savola Group, a Saudi Arabian food producer, hired JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) to advise on a potential bid for the operator of KFC restaurants in the Middle East and North Africa, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.Non-binding bids for the $4.3 billion Kuwait Food business, known as Americana, are due next month, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.KKR & Co. (KKR) and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. have submitted a

[caption id="attachment_2596" align="alignleft" width="276"] Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower owned by Emaar[/caption]|By TAP Staff| Emaar Properties said it’s seeking to raise as much as $1.58 billion from the initial public offering of its malls unit in the UAE's biggest IPO since 2007.Emaar Malls Group PJSC plans to sell 2 billion of its founders’ shares, or about 15 percent of its equity, in a price range of 2.5 dirhams to 2.9 dirhams apiece, according to a company statement to the

|By TAP Staff|The rising popularity of Islamic finance in the West is prompting analysts to conclude that the world is finally recognizing the fact Islamic finance is not just for Muslims and it ready to go mainstream.Islamic finance received a shot in the arm recently with the move by US investment bank Goldman Sachs to revive plans to issue its first sukuk. In June when the UK issued its first sovereign sukuk, which was 10 times oversubscribed. Similar plans have

 Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) has held talks with banks about raising a loan to help fund its general operations, the first time the firm has commissioned such a facility in years, three banking sources told Reuters on Thursday.While it is a rarity for the company to raise money not tied to a specific project, a loan would be the latest example of a Dubai state-backed entity tapping banks to take advantage of low borrowing rates and the emirate's resurgent economy.Talks are

Standard Chartered Plc is in talks with potential corporate sukuk issuers from China and Hong Kong, as the city government debuts its Islamic bonds.The lender, the fourth-largest Shariah-compliant debt arranger this year, sees Hong Kong as a “very unique opportunity as a gateway to China,” Afaq Khan, the Dubai-based chief executive officer at Standard Chartered Saadiq, said in an interview. The city’s entry to the Islamic market will see increased interest for assistance in setting up funds in line with

Dubai private equity firm Ithmar Capital has sold a 7.3 percent stake in Al Noor Hospitals for 10.30 pounds per share, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, in a deal worth 87.55 million pounds ($142 million).Ithmar offered 8.5 million shares in the healthcare firm in the first such sell-down since the company was listed in July 2013. The sale leaves Ithmar with a 20 percent stake, according to Thomson Reuters data. The sale price was above the

Investors in Dubai continued to accumulate cash in early trade on Thursday ahead of the $1.4 billion initial public offer of Emaar Malls Group, a subsidiary of Emaar Properties, the largest listed developer in the emirate.The Dubai index fell 1.3 percent as most stocks were in the red. Emaar itself was the main drag, falling 1.8 percent as its shares no longer entitled their holders to priority allotment in the malls unit's IPO.Emaar plans to sell a 15 percent stake

|By TAP Staff|Goldman Sachs is meeting investors this week for the sale of a dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized sukuk issue through its unit JANY Sukuk Co., people with knowledge of the deal said.The New York-based lender’s first foray into the Islamic capital markets three years ago ended without a sale amid criticism from scholars about the structure of its sukuk program and the use of funds raised. This time the planned security will be a Sukuk al Wakala, where one party entrusts

Dubai’s boom-and-bust real estate market can land you at the wheel of a Rolls-Royce or behind bars.  Kabir Mulchandani should know: he’s experienced both.Five years after spending 140 days in jail facing charges of fraud and embezzlement for which he ultimately was cleared, the chairman of developer SKAI Holdings stands at a building site watching cranes start work on one of the company’s three projects. They will have a combined value of about 6 billion dirhams ($1.6 billion) when completed.“I

|By TAP Staff| Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), AstroLabs and Google have team up to launch a technology hub that will promote start-ups. Based in the DMCC free zone, the hub is expected to open early next year, catering to technology entrepreneurs from around the world looking to gain access to high-growth emerging markets, including the Emirates.AstroLabs, which is a DMCC member, trains Middle East and North Africa (Mena) entrepreneurs. The venture’s third partner, Google for Entrepreneurs, is a social project

|By TAP Staff| Abu Dhabi is hosting a meeting of Global Opportunity Network on September 9, along with London, Shanghai, San Fransisco, Mumbai and other global cities. The meeting will discuss how the pressure for change can be used to create more resilient and sustainable societies.Global Opportunity Network has presented five risks that will inspire this year’s opportunity panels. The Abu Dhabi meeting will take place on September 9. The first meeting is scheduled for August 27 in Johannesburg.“We cannot

|By TAP Staff|Meraas Holding said the first phase of its ambitious e $2.7 billion Dubai Parks and Resorts project incorporating the Legoland park would be completed by 2016.In addition to the Legoland park, that initial phase will include a Bollywood-themed park celebrating the Indian film industry and another known as Motiongate Dubai promising to bring Hollywood characters to life.Plans also call for a central retail and dining plaza and family-friendly hotel at the complex, located in Dubai's Jebel Ali

Islamic debt could become a source of funding for U.K. infrastructure projects from wind turbines to high-speed trains and airports as Britain cements its position as the first sukuk market in a non-Muslim nation.Investors including Bank of London and the Middle East see scope for the U.K. to issue Shariah-compliant bonds with varying maturities after the Debt Management Office attracted bids for more than 10 times the 200 million pounds ($331 million) of securities offered at its debut sale in

Italian airline Alitalia and Etihad Airways are expected to win EU regulatory clearance for their tie-up by the end of the year with minor concessions, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.Abu Dhabi-based Etihad clinched a deal last month to buy 49 percent of loss making Alitalia in a 1.76-billion-euro ($2.31 billion) rescue plan, giving it access to Europe's fourth-largest travel market and 25 million passengers.Cash-rich Etihad, which has minority stakes in Air Berlin (AB1.DE), Ireland's Aer Lingus

Emirates said it’s ready to play the long game in seeking to add routes in Germany, one of the few major travel markets that the world’s No. 1 airline by international traffic is struggling to penetrate.Emirates, which has overcome the modest population of its home base by building Dubai into a long-haul transfer hub, can serve only four German cities under a bilateral air-services accord dating from 1975 that is “maybe a little old,” Chief Commercial Officer Thierry Antinori said

Middle East funds are bullish on Saudi Arabia's stock market despite concern it is getting richly valued, while they think the United Arab Emirates has bottomed out after a volatile few months, a Reuters survey showed.The Saudi stock market index has jumped 13 percent since authorities announced in late July that they would open the market to direct investment by foreign institutions in the first half of next year.That has left the overall market looking fully valued to many funds."We

Arabtec Holding Co. (ARTC) declined for the first time in nine days after former chief executive officer Hasan Ismaik turned down an offer from Aabar Investments PJSC to buy part of his stake in the company.Arabtec, the United Arab Emirates’ largest publicly traded builder, lost 1.7 percent to close at 4.71 dirhams, the biggest drop since Aug. 12. It jumped 13 percent in the previous five days on speculation a deal between Aabar, a government-linked investment company, and Ismaik was

Christie’s International Real Estate, the property unit of the London headquartered art auction house, is set to launch in Dubai at the company’s next auction in the emirate in October.The expansion could see Christie’s property wing open three to four offices in the region in total, revealed Joachim Wrang-Widén, SVP and regional director for Europe, Middle East, Russia, India and Africa at a press briefing in London.Wrang-Widén said the company’s normal requirement for its services was property worth more than

|By TAP Staff| Forbes has ranked Dubai ahead of Los Angeles, Beijing and Sydney as the most influential city in the world. Dubai was ranked seventh on a list topped by London.The rankings are based on eight factors including the amount of foreign direct investment they have attracted; the concentration of corporate headquarters; how many particular business niches they dominate; air connectivity (ease of travel to other global cities); strength of producer services; financial services; technology and media power; and

U.K. authorities recovered more than 300,000 pounds ($498,000) from the sale of a convicted drug trafficker’s home in Dubai in the first such confiscation involving the United Arab Emirates.The apartment in Dubai Marina was owned by Redwan El-Ghaidouni, 37, who was convicted at Kingston Crown Court in March 2011 on drug charges, the Crown Prosecution service said in a statement on its website.A confiscation order in 2012 for about 417,000 pounds, was fully satisfied by the sale and the money

|By TAP Staff| Emirates is likely to launch a flight service to Dubai from Indore by the end of this year, Indian television channel NDTV reported, quoting  a Madhya Pradesh minister. "We want Emirates to launch a flight from Indore and are giving full support to the airline, which is also keen to connect the city to Dubai by air," Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration and Development Minister, Kailash Vijaywargiya said.After securing all regulatory approvals, the airline may begin its operations