Dubai World May Sell Assets to Repay Debt, Government Says
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By Arif Sharif and Zahraa Alkhalisi
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai World, the state-owned holding company that’s in talks to renegotiate $26 billion of debt, may sell assets in the United Arab Emirates and abroad to repay its borrowings, a government official said.
Asset sales are normal to shore up finances in such circumstances, Abdulrahman Al Saleh, director general of Dubai’s Department of Finance and head of the government fund that’s leading the restructuring of Dubai World, said yesterday in an interview with Al Jazeera television.
Dubai World’s announcement last week that it would seek to restructure $26 billion of debt, including a $3.5 billion Islamic bond sold by property unit Nakheel PJSC, sparked a 16 percent decline in the country’s benchmark stock index.
“There are a lot of assets that could be liquidated at Dubai World to raise much-needed cash,” said Fahd Iqbal, a Dubai-based Persian Gulf equities strategist at Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes Holding SAE. “The priority would be to dispose of some of the international assets.”
Dubai World owns 80 percent of DP World Ltd., the world’s fourth-biggest port operator and the Jebel Ali Free Zone, a business park adjoining its flagship Jebel Ali port in Dubai. Its Istithmar division bought New York luxury retailer Barneys in 2007 for $942.3 million, while Dubai World itself acquired a $5.1 billion stake in U.S. casino company MGM Mirage in 2008.
The aim of Dubai World’s restructuring is to ensure it survives in the new environment, Al Saleh said, according to Al Jazeera. Dubai World will delay projects it hasn’t started because of the credit crisis, Al Saleh told the broadcaster.
Building Boom
Dubai World, one of the emirate’s three main state-related holding companies, is one of two groups that have led a building boom in Dubai alongside Emaar Properties PJSC.
Nakheel is building palm tree-shaped islands off the coast while Limitless LLC, its other property unit, is building the Downtown Jebel Ali residential project in Dubai and has planned urban developments in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Russia.
Nakheel’s two malls in Dubai, Ibn Battuta and DragonMart, may be valuable since they yield regular revenue, Hermes analysts led by Fahd Iqbal said in a Dec. 3 report. The group’s most valuable asset would be Istithmar’s stake in London-based Standard Chartered Plc, the analysts said. The 2.2 percent holding is valued at about $1.07 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“The restructuring process will obviously include discussion over the sale of assets,” Farouk Soussa, a Standard & Poor’s credit analyst said today at a conference in Dubai. “Nothing can be excluded.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Arif Sharif in Dubai at asharif2@bloomberg.netZahraa Alkhalisi in Dubai at zalkhalisi@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 7, 2009 07:42 EST
