Dubai Group selling Shuaa stake, other assets in 2016

Dubai Group is in the process of selling its stake in Shuaa Capital and is also obliged to divest its holdings in EFG Hermes and Bank Muscat this year, the chief executive of Dubai Group’s parent firm said on Tuesday.

Asked about Dubai Group’s 48.4 per cent stake in Dubai investment bank Shuaa, Fadel Al Ali, chief executive of Dubai Holding, told reporters: “We are in the sales process as an owner.” He declined to comment further about Shuaa.

Dubai Group completed a drawn-out restructuring of its $10 billion debt pile in January 2014, with banks extending repayment deadlines on loans so that the group could be given time to sell its assets to raise cash needed to fund the payments.

Asked about its stakes in Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes and Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender, Ali said these assets would be sold in 2016, as agreed as part of the restructuring. He declined to comment further.

Dubai Group holds 11.8 per cent of EFG Hermes and 12.8 per cent of Bank Muscat, according to Thomson Reuters data.

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