State-owned conglomerate Dubai World edged closer to a second major restructuring in four years on Monday after announcing it had reached agreement with a “substantial majority” of creditors to back its $14.6 billion debt deal. However, despite having enough backing to effectively prevent challenges to its new deal, a relatively untested court process to impose it will mean formal completion is still months away. Dubai’s economy has […]
|By Florence Tan and Henning Gloystein|Even as Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies appear united in their refusal to cut output to boost global oil prices, they are becoming locked in an increasingly fierce battle to secure market share in Asia. Oil prices have slumped below $50 a barrel, the weakest since 2009, triggering a price war between producers to secure customers in Asia. And the […]
Foreign spend in Egypt to hit $2bn in Q2 CAIRO, 23 hours, 2 minutes ago Foreign investment in Egypt will reach about $2 billion in the second quarter of the fiscal year, up from $1.8 billion dollars in the previous quarter, investment minister Ashraf Salman told Reuters in an interview on Sunday. Egypt is also preparing a new unified investment law that will be sent to President […]
Kalban … expansion plans. Dubai Investments plans $108m acquisitions DUBAI, 1 days ago Dubai Investments (DI), a leading investment company listed on the Dubai Financial Market, has announced expansion plans across its diversified portfolio, which include two new acquisitions worth Dh400 million ($108 million). The new acquisitions in the financial and real estate sectors, to be finalised soon, are expected to reinforce Dubai Investments’ robust growth across […]
Bahrain offers direct subscription to govt sukuks MANAMA, 1 days ago Bahrain Bourse (BHB) has announced that from today (January 11) investors can directly subscribe to the Government Islamic Lease Securities (sukuk) in the primary market through registered brokers at the bourse. The subscription period through the registered brokers is until Wednesday, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication. The listing of the issue is expected […]
Liana Technologies ….. shortlisted in the European Business Awards competition. Liana Technologies nominated for European Business Award DUBAI, 1 days ago Liana Technologies, a leading online marketing software provider in the Middle East, has been shortlisted in the European Business Awards competition, for the Customer Focus category. The company is one of the national finalists, in which succeeding requires customer-focused products and services and high quality. The […]
By Aditi Shah NEW DELHI Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:38pm IST Labourers work at a construction site of a high-rise residential building in central Mumbai August 25, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui/Files NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian businessman Navin Bhartia’s Internet habits make him a dream customer for billionaire foreign media moguls like Rupert Murdoch. The 45-year-old from Kolkata likes to buy homes online, sometimes without visiting them. […]
|By Andrew Torchia| It’s a weekend morning at the Dubai Mall, a glitzy complex with 1,200 stores, and the shoppers are pouring in. A traffic jam has formed in the basement parking area. With passenger arrivals at Dubai’s airport at record highs, retailers expect a good month. The 55 percent plunge of oil prices since last June might be expected to usher in an age of austerity […]
Dubai Investments is close to finalising two acquisitions worth a combined 400 million dirhams ($109 million), it said in a statement on Sunday. One of the purchases will be of a financial entity with expertise in asset management, corporate advisory services, debt raising and brokerage capabilities, with the second acquisition coming in the real estate sector, the statement said. It did not name the acquisition targets nor […]
When it comes to wearables, the headlines often seem dominated by smart watches and fitness-tracking bracelets. However, as the Consumer Electronics Show wraps up in Las Vegas on Friday one thing is clear — there’s a lot more to wearables than just bangles and timepieces. Among the wearable Innovation Award winners at this year’s CES were a heart-rate-monitoring strip that sticks to a user’s torso; a sensor-embedded […]
The Jetsons probably had no idea how soon the average American would see robots become a reality. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, a number of devices showed the futuristic concept is here and now. Robotics exhibits at CES grew 25 percent from last year’s show, according to the event’s organizers. “It speaks to the category’s growth and ability to disrupt and transform […]
Dubai International Capital (DIC) is launching the sale of German alumina products maker Almatis as the fund seeks to reduce its liabilities in the wake of a debt restructuring, three people familiar with the deal said. DIC has mandated Barclays to explore the options of the possible divestment, the people said on Thursday. Almatis is around 80 percent owned by DIC with a stake also held by […]
Dubai Islamic Bank will reopen the Gulf bond market next week with a capital-boosting sukuk, the region’s first debt offering in two months as financial markets there wobbled under the impact of falling oil prices. A successful offering would not just bolster reserves at DIB, the largest Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates, but also pave the way for others who may have been waiting to […]
Oil extended losses below $48 a barrel amid speculation that U.S. inventories will expand, deepening a global supply glut that’s driven prices to a five-year low. Futures declined for a fourth day. Stockpiles in the world’s biggest oil-consuming country probably rose by 700,000 barrels last week, a Bloomberg News survey showed before a government report tomorrow. Oil slumped almost 50 percent in 2014, the most since the […]
INTERNATIONA. Oil fell in 2014 by the most since the 2008 global financial crisis as U.S. producers and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ceded no ground in their battle for market share amid a supply glut. The U.S. benchmark ended at a five-year low yesterday, capping a 46 percent drop in 2014, as stockpiles of crude oil and gasoline reached seasonal record highs and as OPEC […]
SHANGHAI Sun Jan 4, 2015 7:47pm IST Lei Jun, founder and chief executive officer of China’s mobile company Xiaomi Inc, introduces the new features of Xiaomi Phone 4 at its launching ceremony, in Beijing, July 22, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee/Files Related Topics Stocks Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone turns 29. Pics SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Fast-growing Chinese tech firm Xiaomi Technology Ltd Co booked 74.3 billion yuan […]
The United Arab Emirates and Egypt appear the most attractive among major Middle Eastern stock markets in an era of low oil prices, the latest Reuters survey of regional asset managers suggests. The plunge of oil and equity prices over the last several months has stunned managers, and they may therefore invest their 2015 equity allocations to the region only gradually. “I think the next three months […]
Marka, a retailing and restaurants start-up, has agreed to buy a sporting goods retail firm from state-owned conglomerate Dubai World for 220 million dirhams ($60 million), in a move that will make Marka operationally profitable in 2015, it said on Sunday. The acquisition of Retailcorp, a subsidiary of Dubai World’s investment unit Istithmar World, will be funded by the Marka’s own funds and bank facilities, said the […]
Gulf stock markets rose on Thursday as Saudi Arabia released a 2015 state budget that will keep spending high, reassuring the region that economic growth is unlikely to be hurt much by the plunge of oil prices. The Saudi budget envisions state spending at a record 860 billion riyals ($230 billion) next year, up 0.6 percent from the 2014 budget plan. That would be the smallest rise […]
Saudi authorities pledged to curb wages and push ahead with investments next year as the world’s largest oil exporter seeks to counter the effect of tumbling crude prices on the economy. The government said it expects the budget deficit in 2015 to widen to 145 billion riyals ($39 billion), from 54 billion riyals this year, the Finance Ministry said today. That amounts to about 5 percent of […]
Deutsche Bank is open to offers for its London-based gold vault following the closure of its physical precious metals business, three sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. “If the right offer came along, then the bank would sell the London vault,” one source close to the situation said. The German bank shut its physical precious metals trading arm last month as it further reduced its […]
Bisco Misr… bidding battle Kellogg outbids Abraaj third time for Bisco CAIRO, 2 days ago Breakfast cereal maker Kellogg Co has again raised its bid for Egyptian snack maker Bisco Misr, outbidding private equity group Abraaj for the third time and snatching the lead in a $140 million takeover battle. Kellogg said on Thursday it would improve its offer to EGP86.36 ($12.04) per share, hoping to secure […]
DUBAI, 2 days ago Developing countries in Asia—particularly China and India—are rapidly becoming the biggest trading partners with Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries ahead of other regions, according to a new report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in conjunction with Falcon and Associates. The study, entitled ‘GCC Trade and Investment Flows,’ explored the GCC’s economic ties with each world region and identifies major growth drivers. […]
Watan inks strategic tie-up with Natixis RIYADH, 2 days ago Natixis, the corporate arm of France’s banking group Groupe BPCE, and Saudi Arabia’s Watan Investment & Securities Company have signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The signing, which took place at the Council of Saudi Chambers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marks the start of expectantly a long-term cooperation between the two institutions on a wide range of Natixis […]
