Stock index provider MSCI Inc is considering changing its rules to allow shares of Alibaba Group Holding and other companies that list their shares in faraway markets to be included in its widely used indexes. The MSCI announced that it was considering changing its rules last week, but did not explain the reason for the changes: questions from investors amid the Alibaba initial public offering, Reuters has […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A new set of figures was published last week. The figures were released without much fanfare, but they are potentially explosive: a rising proportion of premature babies born at 23 weeks are surviving. More accurately, Britain’s best neonatal units are saving them. Freedom of information requests from 25 hospitals revealed that 120 babies born at 23 weeks survived over the past four years (likely to be more […]
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 […]
RAK Ceramics For RAK Ceramics, the world’s biggest manufacturer of tiles, 2014 may become one of the most transformative periods in the company’s 23-year history. Investment firm Samena Capital this year bought a 31% stake in the company that in the past two decades has become the flagship business of Ras al Khaimah, the most northern of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, […]
Bloomberg News London Stock Exchange Group ’s two biggest shareholders have adopted rather different strategies over the company’s £938 million ($1.5 billion) rights issue to fund its acquisition of Russell Investments. Shortly after the deal was first announced in June, Qatar Holding sold a third of its stake in the company, cutting its holding to 10.3%. People close to the fund said at the time that it […]
|By TAP Staff| Emaar Properties will launch the initial public offer of its shopping malls and retailing unit on Sept. 14. The developer further said the subsidiary will be listed on Dubai’s main stock market on Oct. 2. The offer would be one of the largest equity sales in the Middle East since 2008, underlining Dubai’s recovery from a credit crisis that forced many state-linked developers to […]
NEW DELHI/DUBAI: Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) aims to pick up a significant stake in Indian Oil Corp’s Paradip refinery and supply about 60 percent of the oil needs of the plant, set to start up later this year, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. Gulf oil producers want to lock in customers in Asia, which is experiencing a wave of refinery expansion, as the […]
Abu Dhabi’s Waha Capital has entered into a $575 million hedging deal on half of its stake in AerCap Holdings, the Emirati investment company said on Wednesday. Waha will use the money to repay debt and fund new investments, according to a company statement to Abu Dhabi’s bourse. AerCap Holdings, in which Waha was its largest shareholder, bought American International Group’s aircraft leasing business in a $5.4 […]
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 […]
Dubai Islamic Bank has ruled out seeking a controlling stake in Bank Panin Syariah, and its plans are limited to raising its stake in the Indonesian lender to 40 percent from 25 percent now, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Dubai Islamic, the largest Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates, bought 2.42 billion shares in the listed sharia-compliant lender in June, its first foray into southeast […]
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 […]
By Dividend Yield: A good example how debt destroys the dreams of dividend growth investors is Tesco (OTCPK:TSCDY). The company cut its dividend payments yesterday by 75 percent. The major reasons for the trigger were worsening earnings as well as a high debt burden. Warren Buffett also bought a small stake in Tesco a few years ago and most of us thought it was a safe haven […]
A logo of Emaar is seen near the Dubai Mall Reuters Emaar Properties plans to float at least 15% of its profitable and fast-growing malls business in a September IPO. The chances are high though that Dubai’s flagship developer may sell an even bigger stake. It all depends on getting the right valuation for Emaar Malls Group. After all, Emaar will be cutting its own stake in […]
KUWAIT. A recent report issued by KFH Research, a subsidery for KFH Group, sees continued positive outlook for the Kuwaiti construction industry, on the back of strong domestic demand in the Kuwaiti economy and a pick-up in government capital spending. Overview and Outlook “While we remain fundamentally cautious about the country’s medium-term investment outlook, we note that higher growth in bank lending over the last few months […]
UAE. Dubai World, the state-owned company at the center of the emirate’s 2009 financial crisis, reached a deal with its main creditors to extend the repayment of $10.3 billion of debt, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The group, which owns the world’s third-largest ports operator, agreed with its creditor committee to repay in 2022, four years later than previously agreed on, the people said, […]
“We have to be honest, we weren’t able to finish it the way we wanted,” said Kassem Eid, a Syrian rebel who has joined the opposition in exile. By ANNE BARNARD August 29, 2014 BEIRUT, Lebanon — As he rode onto the base of the Fourth Division, the formidable Syrian Army unit that had been starving and bombarding his town near Damascus for months, Kassem Eid prepared for a […]
Claire Hajaj with her mother, father and brother in Kuwait, 1979 At 11, I discovered I was a stranger in my own family. It happened at a relative’s “do” in Regent’s Park – a bar mitzvah, or a wedding. I remember soft-pink tablecloths, gilded place-cards and cutlery gleaming like silver fish. A board at the reception-room entrance listed table numbers and names in grand, italicised print. I […]
By Bret Jensen: I have made quite a bit of money over the past 12-18 months trading in and out of high yielding upstream energy partnership Linn Energy (NASDAQ:LINE). This was especially true after a couple of negative articles in Barron’s last year alleging “accounting irregularities” knocked the stock down to the low $20s. This held up a pending merger with Berry Petroleum that was eventually blessed […]
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 […]
Blackstone Group is close to its first investment in the Middle East as the private-equity firm nears a deal to acquire a minority stake in Dubai’s GEMS Education, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Blackstone, based in New York, has teamed up with Fajr Capital Ltd. to invest in the world’s biggest privately held schools operator GEMS through its Blackstone Tactical Opportunities unit, the people […]
Shares of Arabtec Holding Co. (ARTC) climbed to the highest since July 16 as some investors speculated former Chief Executive Officer Hasan Ismaik is close to selling part of his stake in the builder. The stock added 2.5 percent to close at 4.57 dirhams, taking gains in the past four days to 7.5 percent. Arabtec was the biggest advancer and the most traded on Dubai’s DFM General […]
