Dubai Group LLC, the investment company that has been seeking payment relief on loans for the past three years, repaid a $300 million syndicated facility led by Citigroup Inc., two people with knowledge of the matter said. Some of the lenders will exit talks on Dubai Group’s $6 billion debt pile, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The Islamic […]
Dubai Refreshments (DRC) said on Monday it would open talks with unlisted Abu Dhabi Refreshments Company about a possible merger. Both firms are franchisee holders for the distribution of Pepsi Co products. A working group would be set up to study a proposed tie-up between the two companies, which will report to the respective board of directors “in a few months”, a statement to the Dubai bourse […]
The genetic testing for breast cancer made famous by Oscar winning Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie would now be locally available for UAE residents, thanks to the first genome testing lab set to open in Abu Dhabi. Angelina Jolie had rocked the Internet and the medical community earlier this year with a disclosure through New York Times that that she had tested positive for a faulty BRCA1 gene […]
2013 has no doubt been a big year for the UAE property market. Dubai was recently named the world’s strongest housing market in 2013 given the city’s status as a safe haven with improved consumer and investor confidence. Home prices have been recorded at the highest levels since the downturn and the market has also gained a more favorable reputation for tighter regulation, given the spate of […]
Dubai has emerged as one of the best performing stock markets globally in 2013, according to Global Equity International, a global consultancy that advises business leaders. By the end of November, the Dubai benchmark stock index had increased by 82%. Abu Dhabi appreciated by 46% during the same period. The Dubai Financial Market started the year strongly by appreciating 16 per cent in the month of January […]
Dana Gas, the energy producer that restructured debt last year due to delayed payments, rose the most in eight years after it received $53 million from Egypt, stoking bets of better cashflow. The stock surged almost 15 percent, the most since December 2005, to 86 fils at the close in Abu Dhabi. More than 311 million shares were traded, almost nine times the three-month average daily volume. […]
Bond issuance from the Gulf Arab region is set to surge next year on the back of heavy infrastructure spending and refinancing needs, while the Abu Dhabi sovereign may return to the market after an absence of nearly five years. The region’s issuance of conventional bonds and sukuk fell to $28.97 billion this year from $36.90 billion in 2012, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters unit. That […]
While it may be the most common given name in the world, the global banking system seemingly can’t cope with Mohammed and its various different spellings. When it comes to false positives – where a person or transaction is incorrectly flagged for contravening sanctions – the total at Middle Eastern banks is around twice that of many international lenders because of the high use of names like […]
Dubai’s success in bidding to host the 2020 World Expo will trigger billions of dollars of investment in the emirate, but it may risk a repeat of the boom-and-bust cycle which nearly caused financial collapse just a few years ago. After competing against three cities, Dubai was awarded the world’s fair by the Bureau International des Expositions on Wednesday, setting the seal on a dramatic economic recovery. […]
Tourism Development & Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi-owned developer of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums, raised a $500 million loan to pay existing debt, according to three bankers with knowledge of the deal. The five-year facility was obtained from a group of seven banks and pays 1.5 percentage points including fees more than the London Interbank Offered Rate, said the bankers, asking not to be identified because […]
Holders of Dubai-based developer Emaar Properties’ convertible bonds have asked the company to convert them into shares, Emaar said in a bourse statement on Sunday. Emaar said its board would discuss the matter at a meeting on December 17. Emaar issued a $500 million convertible bond in 2010. The sale marked the Dubai developer’s return to the debt markets after more than a year and an opportune […]
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways is examining Alitalia’s books and is expected to decide by Christmas whether to take a stake in the troubled Italian airline, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Alitalia offers access to Europe’s fourth-largest travel market and flies 25 million passengers a year. But the airline, which loses 700,000 euros a day and has net debt of more than 800 million […]
The UAE will add 29.2 million passengers over the next four years at a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 6.6 per cent as total global air passenger numbers are expected to rise to 3.91 billion by 2017, the International Air Transport Association, or Iata, said on Tuesday. As airlines across the globe expect to see a 31 per cent increase in passenger numbers between 2012 […]
National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) will take on more staff to grow its commercial business and tap the “enormous opportunities” created by Dubai’s successful 2020 World Expo bid, its CEO said, even as it pursues international expansion. The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) largest lender plans to add around 900 jobs to its current headcount of 6,500 next year across 18 countries, with a focus on new […]
Abu Dhabi’s bourse crossed the 4,000 mark for the first time in five years on Monday, playing catch-up to gains on neighbouring Dubai’s market, which extended a rally driven by the recovery in the real estate sector. Abu Dhabi’s index climbed 0.3 percent to 4,001 points, it’s highest close since September 2008. The market is up 52.1 percent year-to-date, while Dubai’s index has rallied 91.1 percent in […]
Julius Baer Group Ltd. took over businesses in Lebanon, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as Switzerland’s third-largest wealth manager integrates the Merrill Lynch operations acquired last year. “Gaining new footholds in the Middle Eastern markets of Lebanon and Bahrain and strengthening our existing Dubai presence is an important step for us and will enable us to further expand our footprint in this key growth region,” Remy […]
Dubai’s benchmark stock index rose to the highest in more than five years as the emirate starts regulating the holiday home rental market and construction company Arabtec Holding PJSC won a contract. The DFM General Index advanced 0.6 percent to 3,031.80, the highest since November 2008, at 12:13 p.m. in Dubai. The measure has surged 87 percent this year, making it one of the world’s best performers […]
Just a few days after being chosen to host the 2020 World Expo convention, the glittering city of Dubai was also named the world’s leading destination at the 20th edition of the World Travel Awards which took place in Doha over the weekend. The city of superlatives, home to some of the world’s most impressive architectural and engineering feats and holder of several Guinness records, now also boasts the […]
The Palestinian poet and filmmaker Hind Shoufani moved to Dubai for the same reasons that have attracted millions of other expatriates to the glitzy emirate. In 2009, after decades in the storied and mercurial Arab capital cities of Damascus and Beirut and a sojourn in New York, she wanted to live somewhere stable and cosmopolitan where she also could earn a living. Five years later, she’s won […]
Dubai’s benchmark stock index rallied the most in more than two months after the emirate won the right to host the World Expo 2020. The DFM General Index advanced 4 percent to 3,015.65 at 10:02 a.m. in the city, bringing the gain for the year to 86 percent. Emaar Properties , builder of the world’s biggest shopping mall by floor space, jumped 3 percent and Dubai Investments […]
Dubai has proposed to the federal government of the United Arab Emirates that the UAE create a sharia-compliant retirement savings scheme for foreign workers, a step which could help to develop the Islamic funds industry. The aim is that the scheme will be nation-wide, though if the federal government does not want to participate, Dubai may implement the plan merely within the emirate, a source at Dubai’s […]
Dubai’s success in bidding to host the 2020 World Expo will trigger billions of dollars of investment in the emirate, but it may risk a repeat of the boom-and-bust cycle which nearly caused financial collapse just a few years ago. After competing against three cities, Dubai was awarded the world’s fair by the Bureau International des Expositions on Wednesday, setting the seal on a dramatic economic recovery. […]
The 2013 Dubai Airshow is expected to be one of the most popular in the show’s history, with more than 1,000 exhibitors and 60,000 visitors already registered.The five-day show, which kicks off November 17 this year, will be held for the first time at the city’s new $32 million Al-Maktoum International Airport — set to be the world’s largest on its 2027 completion. “The days where air […]
Dubai builder Arabtec on Monday said that it has entered into a joint venture with South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction to pursue heavy infrastructure and construction projects in the Middle East and North Africa. Arabtec, which is expanding aggressively, launched a joint venture with another South Korean firm Samsung Engineering Co in September that would focus on large energy and power-related projects in the region. The […]
