Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty moved to the United Arab Emirates from India nearly 40 years ago and made his fortune by building a hospital chain and money exchange group from scratch. Last week, he bought Travelex, the foreign exchange operator, for an undisclosed sum but what is likely the biggest investment of his career. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Shetty said he plans to […]
Saudi Arabian Mining Co, or Ma’aden, has appointed HSBC Saudi Arabia as financial advisor for its planned 5.6 billion riyals ($1.49 billion)rights issue, the company said in a statement on Monday. Ma’aden had earlier this month said it was seeking shareholder approval for a capital increase to fund the expansion of its phosphate and gold operations, as well as increase funding for its aluminium business. The company […]
Abu Dhabi gave Etisalat a $500 million grant towards its 4.14 billion euro ($5.64 billion) purchase of 53 percent of Maroc Telecom, the company’s prospectus for a planned bond issue shows. The grant provides further evidence of the emirate’s support for its companies’ foreign expansion and could attract complaints from rival operators. Fellow Abu Dhabi-based company Etihad Airways benefited from a $3 billion interest-free loan from the […]
|By K Raveendran| It is indeed a milestone in the history of UAE’s expatriate business. The purchase of a controlling stake in Travelex by Dr B R Shetty is easily the biggest acquisition by an expatriate both in terms of its value and profile. It is also perhaps the biggest global brand acquired by a UAE-based Indian entrepreneur. There have been buyouts of higher values, but these […]
|TAP Special|Travelex, which has been acquired by leading UAE businessman Dr. B. R. Shetty along with his partners associated with Centurion Investments, will continue to operate independently of UAE Exchange. The acquisition, to be effected through BRS Ventures & Holdings Limited, a company owned by Dr Shetty and equity partners associated with Centurion, is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals and consents. The acquisition will not […]
Uber San Francisco-based Uber — a smartphone app that connects passengers with cars for hire — officially launches in the Saudi capital Riyadh today after three months of beta testing, entering a new market with some unique opportunities. Saudi Arabia is a country with virtually no public transport and where half of the population — women — is not allowed to drive. Many of the regular cabs available […]
National Bank of Abu Dhabi plans to set up a regional financial base in India before the end of this year as part of its overseas expansion strategy, two sources aware of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The largest lender by market value in the United Arab Emirates is the first Emirati bank to be granted a banking licence in India since 1980. It joins two […]
|TAP Special| Sharjah might soon have its own Metro, which could be linked to Etihad Rai, as part of a massive plan to develop the emirate’s transport infrastructure, according to sources familiar with the plan. The newly-created Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority has been tasked with the responsibility of undertaking the feasibility studies in this regard. The plan also includes the development of new road networks and […]
Qatar Investment Authority is acquiring joint control of a group of luxury hotels in five European cities including the Carlton InterContinental in Cannes and Amsterdam’s Amstel InterContinental. The Qatari sovereign wealth fund’s Katara Hospitality unit is also taking joint control of InterContinental hotels in Frankfurt, Madrid and Rome, according to a notice on the website of the European Commission’s competition authority. The hotels are managed by and […]
|By TAP Staff| Sunil John, founder and CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, the region’s leading public relations consultancy, has been awarded the “SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement”, the first person from the Middle East to be honoured with this prestigious global award. The SABRE Awards, which are presented by The Holmes Group, a leading global public relations publishing organisation, acknowledged John’s position at the “forefront of change” […]
Oil rig maker Lamprell said on Friday it would raise about $120 million to boost its productivity after returning to profit last year despite growing risk in the sector. Chief executive officer James Moffat said the rights issue marked “the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle in our recovery”, which had started around 18 months ago. It will be used to support investment, facilitate debt refinancing and […]
Saudi Arabian Mining Co will seek shareholder approval for a 5.6 billion riyal ($1.49 billion) rights issue to help to fund its expansion plans, the company said on Thursday. The company, better known as Ma’aden, intends to use the money to expand its phosphate and gold operations, as well as increase funding for its aluminium business, it said in a bourse filing, adding that a date for […]
Damac Real Estate Development Ltd. (DMC) is bolstering Dubai’s drive to lead the global Islamic economy with serviced apartments that are Shariah-compliant from their financing to their restaurants and saunas. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB) is managing the project’s funding as Damac, which issued its debut sukuk last month, sells the certified Islamic residences, Niall Mc Loughlin, the Dubai-based developer’s senior vice president of communication, said […]
Dubai-based hotel operator Jumeirah Group will invest 8 billion dirhams ($2.19 billion) to expand projects in 11 countries over the next three years, the official state news agency WAM reported on Friday. The group is part of Dubai Holding, a conglomerate owned by the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. The expansion will see an addition of 4,300 hotels rooms over the next three years, WAM […]
|By TAP Staff|The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), owner of many of Dubai’s corporate jewels, such as the Emirates airline and the airport duty-free business, said its revenues grew 18 percent to $24.8 billion in the second half of 2013. The numbers were revealed in the prospectus released in connection with the plan to raise about $750m in its first Islamic bond issue. The latest full-year revenue […]
According to international real estate consultancy firm Cluttons, an upsurge in economic confidence following Dubai’s World Expo 2020 win, has led to heightened demand for commercial office space in the emirate. Rents for prime Grade A space in particular have continued to climb with a 10% increase recorded in Q1, pushing average rates in this category to AED 220 per square foot. Cluttons Dubai Spring 2014 Commercial […]
As Dubai freight-forwarding firm Able Logistics Group began preparing early this year to go public, it conducted a leveraged recapitalisation, taking on fresh bank debt so it could pay a cash dividend to shareholders. By the standards of developed Western markets, the transaction was routine. But for the Middle East it was an unusually creative deal, a sign that the region’s private equity industry is finally building […]
Low cost airline ‘flydubai’ will start its flights from Dubai to three Indian cities, including Delhi, from next month, doubling the number of its destinations in India. flydubai will start flights to Thiruvanthapuram, Kochi and Delhi from Dubai, taking the number of its services to six Indian cities, airline Chief Executive Officer Gaithal Gaith said here today. From June 1, the airline will start a four times […]
The United Arab Emirates will have its own stand-alone exchange-traded funds with this week’s launch of the iShares MSCI UAE Capped ETF (UAE). On May 30th, both Qatar and the UAE will get promoted by the MSCI index folks being frontier markets to becoming full-fledged emerging markets. As of this year’s first quarter, the UAE and Qatar occupied the second- and third-largest country weights in the MSCI […]
Abu Dhabi government-owned General Holding Corporation (Senaat) has shelved plans for a stock market debut, four sources aware of the matter said, as the emirate takes a cautious line on financial commitments in the wake of its bailout of Dubai. Despite enjoying significant hydrocarbon wealth, the largest of the seven United Arab Emirates has been wary of its financial position since providing Dubai with a $20 billion […]
A sense of euphoria can be felt as you walk onto the Dubai Financial Market’s (DFM) trading floor. Excited investors sit huddled at tables, eyes fixed on trading screens. Occasionally the floor erupts in applause as certain stocks shoot up to target levels. A local investor in his fifties who gives his name as Abu Hany, dressed in the traditional white robes of the Gulf, describes himself […]
An Abu Dhabi state-owned fund is financing a quarter of Etisalat’s 4.2 billion euro purchase of Vivendi’s stake in Maroc Telecom, said three bank sources with knowledge of the deal, adding it should close this week. The identity of the fund is a closely-guarded secret. The banks that will provide the remaining 3.15 billion euros of loan finance have not been told which of the emirate’s state-owned […]
|By TAP Staff| Trade in petrochemicals between Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states is set for robust growth in the coming years led by the development of the region’s rail and transport network, predicts the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA), the region’s longest-standing trade association. “An integrated railway network is an important catalyst in driving increased economic integration between GCC countries as it fosters the region’s development […]
Hedge funds lowered bullish bets on gold for a fourth week, the longest streak this year. The net-long position contracted to the lowest since mid-February as speculators sold bullion on signs of accelerating U.S. economic growth. The investors more than doubled bets on lower prices in the past month while reducing wagers on a rally in six of the past seven weeks. Prices fell 7.6 percent since […]
