Dubai’s International Hotel Investments buys London Real Estate

International Hotel Investments (IHI) bought prime west London property from the England Queen’s portfolio, the monarch’s property managers announced on wednesday, according to AFP. The Crown Estate announced that it had sold the Metropole building and 10 Whitehall Place to a consortium led by IHI for 255 million dollars. IHI is a Malta-based investment vehicle, backed by an investment arm of the Dubai government. 

According to The Crown Estate, the 37,150 square metres of available space will be refurbished into a 283-room five-star hotel, along with luxury apartments, overlooking the River Thames.

Dubai Mercantile Exchange achieves new records

The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) has a strong start of 2008 with the setting of a new monthly volume record and achieving the highest level of open interest in its benchmark Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract since the launch of the Exchange in June of last year. The DME’s Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract traded a record total of 42,903 contracts during January, surpassing the previous monthly volume high of 42,568 set during November’s trading.

Another new record. Open interest on the DME at the close of January trading stood at 13,773, surpassing by 2,713 contracts the previous monthly high of 11,060 recorded in November 2007. Open interest is the number of futures contracts entered into but not yet liquidated by an offsetting transaction or by delivery, and is regarded as a leading indicator of success by the industry.

The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited, a joint venture between Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) and the Oman Investment Fund (OIF) is the premier international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Middle East, uniquely positioned to provide price transparency and market liquidity for crude oil from the world’s foremost oil producing and exporting region.

The Exchange has developed and lists the Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract, addressing the growing market need for price discovery of Middle East Sour Crude Oil while simultaneously bridging the time-zone gap between Europe and Asia and North America. Furthermore, the establishment of the DME is also intended to strengthen Dubai’s ties with the international finance and commodities trading communities.

Dubai Islamic Investment Group buys 51% stake

The Dubai Islamic Investment Group (DIIG) announced that it has acquired a 51 per cent controlling stake in the Kuwait-based Al Fajer Retakaful Insurance Company KSCC. The DIIG is part of the leading diversified financial company of Dubai Holding, the Dubai Group.

Dubai Islamic Investment Group’s investment in Al Fajer Re marks Dubai Group’s foray into the retakaful sector as a first step to drive the segment globally. Dubai Islamic Investment Group will bring extensive experience from its current investment portfolio owning stakes in Bank Islam Malaysia, the largest and oldest Islamic Bank in Malaysia, National Bonds UAE, the National Shariah-compliant Saving scheme and the strength of its sister companies under Dubai Group in Islamic finance, including takaful and retakaful products. 

Takaful is an Arabic word meaning guaranteeing each other or joint guarantee. That means that each participant that needs protection (via insurance) must be present with the sincere intention to donate to other participants faced with difficulties. Therefore, Islamic insurance exists where each participant contributes into a fund that is used to support one another with each participant contributing sufficient amounts to cover expected claims.

Dubai plans to take over Colonial

The Dubai-based company Investment Corporation Dubai (ICD) plans a take over bid for the Spanish property firm Colonial, according to the company’s website. The bid might be the start of a bid battle for the indebted firm. ICD wants to buy stakes from the Nozaleda family and former chairman Luis Portillo who together own more than 52 per cent of Colonial. Colonial owns various prime assets in Barcelona, Madrid and (via its holding Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise) Paris.

The bid is ICD’s first major move overseas since the company was established in 2006 to invest profits out of Emirates Airlines.

The Investment Corporation Dubai, an $82 billion investment vehicle, is the third biggest state-run investment company of the United Arab Emirates.