The lack of clarity and the prospect of bondholders rejecting the delay in repayments could lead to a fire sale of prize assets and even push the emirate to divest speculative investments made during the six-year boom that are unlikely to generate long-term revenue.

Following are details of key assets and high-profile holdings possibly up for sale.

DUBAI WORLD ASSETS

DP WORLD

One of the world’s largest port operators is arguably the crown jewel in its trophy cabinet. Its 2007 IPO, the region’s largest to date, raised almost $5 billion, but its share price has fallen by more than two thirds of its original value. The firm went to reassure investors on November 26 it was not part of Dubai World’s restructuring. Dubai World was in talks with a private equity firm to sell a stake in the port operator.

STANDARD CHARTERED

Istithmar bought a 2.7 percent stake worth about $1 billion in October, 2006. The bank signaled on Friday its exposure to Dubai World would not be material.

MGM MIRAGE

In 2007, Dubai World invested about $5 billion in casino operator MGM Mirage by buying shares and half of an $8.5 billion Las Vegas project. Dubai World last year sued MGM Mirage as credit dried up and CityCenter flirted with bankruptcy. The project has been plagued by construction problems.

BARNEYS

Istithmar World bought U.S. luxury retail chain Barneys for $942 million in 2007. Barneys hired restructuring advisory firm Perella Weinberg in August to help it mull options that would shore up its financial position.

PERELLA WEINBERG

Istithmar also invested about $100 million into the boutique investment bank in 2006.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

Property developer Nakheel and Istithmar bought a 20 percent stake in Montreal-based international circus touring company in June 2008 and had planned to build a theater with the group on its main palm-shaped island.

TURNBERRY GOLF COURSE

Leisurecorp, Dubai World’s leisure and sports investment unit, bought the Turnberry Golf course, home to golf’s oldest competition, from Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Nov 2008 for about $100 million.

QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 LINER

Originally bought in 2007 for $100 million to be converted into a luxury hotel and moored off Dubai’s Palm, the ship’s future has been under scrutiny since it docked at Port Rashid in Dubai last year for refurbishment. In July, Nakheel said it was mulling moving the liner to another location, or Africa.

ATLANTIS DUBAI

The resort, which opened in November to a $50 million firework display, is a joint venture with South Africa tycoon Sol Kerzner.

DUBAI PRIZE ASSETS

EMIRATES

The airline, whose chairman also chairs Dubai’s supreme fiscal committee, has $55 billion of orders of planes from Boeing and Airbus. It has been at the forefront of turning Dubai into an international hub and had been nearing a potential share sale before the financial crisis hit. Emirates has repeatedly fought back speculation it would merge with Abu Dhabi’s carrier Etihad Airways.

DUBAI Aluminum (DUBAL)

Established in 1979, the aluminum producer has become one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of the metal and in 2006 entered into a joint venture with Mubadala Development Co, a wholly-owned investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi government to build one of the largest single aluminum plants in the world.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

Borse Dubai, which took a 21 percent stake in the bourse operator in November 2007, said in June it saw its LSE investment as long-term and had no plans to sell its stake. LSE shares were among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 after Dubai’s debt news.

HSBC

The investment arm of Dubai’s ruler Dubai International Capital (DIC) in 2007 bought an undisclosed stake in HSBC making it one of the largest investors in Europe’s biggest banks. DIC in 2006 set up a fund aimed at buying into some of world’s largest listed equities. The group earlier this year went under restructuring and its chief executive left the company.

DEUTSCHE BANK

DIFC Investments, a unit of the Dubai international Financial Center, bought a 2.2 percent stake in the German lender in 2007 in a deal worth about $1.83 billion. The DIFC’s governor was last week replaced as part of a shake-up Dubai’s hierarchy.

SONY CORP

Dubai International Capital through its Global Strategic Equities Fund (GSEF) bought a stake in the Japanese electronics and entertainment firm in 2007 in what it described at the time as a substantial investment. Anyone who buys more than 5 percent of a listed company on Tokyo is required to report the stake to regulators within five business days.

EUROPEAN AERONAUTIC Defense & SPACE COMPANY (EADS)

The GSEF also bought into Airbus’ parent company taking a 3.12 percent stake, making it one of the largest institutional investors in the aerospace group.

ALLIANCE MEDICAL

DIC also in 2007 bought Alliance Medical for $1.25 billion with plans to expand one of Europe’s largest MRI and CT scan services provider into the Middle East and Asia.

EMAAR PROPERTIES

The Arab world’s largest property developer by market value is in the midst of a merger with three other state-linked developers after a failed acquisition in the United States and Dubai’s real estate market crashing left it vulnerable. Still, its portfolio includes the world’s tallest tower Burj Dubai, set to open in January, and one of the world’s biggest malls already open.

Source: Reuters

Most Liverpool fans will be extremely happy, given that it takes control out of the hands of the Yankee Duo Dandy, and gives them potential new owners with deep, deep pockets. To be brutally honest, I’m sure most fans don’t care whose Arab billions are poured into the club, so long as it is billions. The recent Manchester City acquisition has only gone the salivate their thirst for such money that much further. That my friends is a sad indictment on the state of British football. (Now’s not the time to discuss such things, a another time and place.)

However, as most things connected with Liverpool Football Club in recent months, nothing is as straightforward as it would seem. Talks are at best in their very early stages. An agreed price would still have to be reached, and given that Tom Hicks’ valuation of £600M is still seen in some quarters as unrealistic, a deal would not materilaise overnight.

Furthermore, George Gillett and Rick Parry seem to be sidelined from the deal and the leakage of information may be an attempt to start a bidding war.

Just when you thought it could not get worse at Anfield …

Liverpool’s club sponsors have criticized the owners, displayed dismay at the prospect of no new stadium and more or less issued a plea to Dubai to come and rescue Anfield from it’s current predicament. What is for sure is time is running out for the American duo that own Liverpool Football Club as the deadline to the loan they took out in January comes to an end.

There were recent rumours that DIC/Dubai/Sheikh Al Maktoum had pulled out of the running to takeover from Gillett and Hanks, however such as been the convoluted nature of their affair that it surprises no one that they have or have not pulled out.

The club’s sponsors, Carlsberg, more or less issued a plea today to DIC to come and buy the cluba nd more or less gave away the biggest secret in football today – that no one has the money to buy Liverpool FC unless its some Middle East oil barren.

Keld Strudahl, Carlsberg’s international marketing director, said: “As far as I understand, DIC is as big a player in a potential Liverpool takeover as previously believed. You shouldn’t underestimate the impact the credit crunch has had on clubs. At the moment there are not a whole lot of investors interested in buying Premier League clubs.”

“That Liverpool is for sale is a badly kept secret but nobody has the money to invest right now. The only people who can invest are those not interested in making a profit.”

DIC/Dubai/Shiekh al Maktoum’s position remain as crystal clear as ever, THEY DO NOT NEED TO BUY!!!!! THEY ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY OVER THE ODDS!!!!! The ball is very much in the Americans’ court, they can wait and wait and eventually they will run out of money and the banks out of patience or they can sell – but at whose price. That my dear readers is the $64,000 question.

Their first hurdle is to renogitiate their loan which runs out at the end of January 2009. RBS and Waichovia, both of whom have seen their fair share of troubles in 2008, may grant them a six month option. However, that will only serve to be a stay of execution. They remain on a collisson course with destiny and that would manifest itself in a number of ways.

Firstly and the ideal solution is to find a rich sugar daddy, but the asking price of £600m fora club that needs to build its own stadium will put off most suitors. Secondly, they will eventually have to shift all the debt burden onto the club itself, something they insisted would never happen when they first took over. Thirdly sell assets to cover their repayments, with a number of star players being sold.

The future looks far from rosy for the American duo or for that matter the club itself. As I have said before, Sheikh al Maktoum does not need to buy a football club. So he’s not going to pay over the odds for one.  However, the Liverpool yankee duo certainly need to sell … will the pressure now tell on them.

The high asking price and financial downturn in Dubai have persuaded the family of Sheikh Al-Maktoum to pull the plug on the deal that Amanda Staveley, who brokered the Abu Dhabi takeover at Manchester City, has been mediating.

The lack of any realistic buyer means the Royal Bank of Scotland and American bank Wachovia are even less likely to force owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to sell the club on or before January 25, when their £350m refinancing deal runs out, and will therefore agree to the July extension allowed for in the original deal.

The Dubai royals had tried to buy Liverpool before the American pair in December 2006.

They renewed their interest a year later when the Americans quoted them a £1billion price tag.

The Al-Maktoums indicated they would pay around £500m, but the reluctance of the Americans to sell to them, combined with the economic climate, has dashed their enthusiasm.

Source: Daily Mail

Sameer al-Ansari, the chairman and chief executive of DIC, said that the balance of economic power was shifting east and that the fund’s investments would follow.

DIC has been active in Western stock markets since it was founded in 2004 and has built large stakes in HSBC, Daimler and EADS, which owns Airbus.

DIC, which is indirectly owned by the Dubai Government, also bought Travelodge, the hotel group, for £675 million in 2006 and Madame Tussauds for £800 million in 2005.

Last year the fund had 47 per cent of its assets invested in Europe and a further 22 per cent in North America but it will now rebalance the portfolio to give greater emphasis to the Middle East and Asia. Its decision will be a blow to companies and investment bankers hoping that the Middle East might provide much-needed financing.

Gordon Brown was in the Gulf this month to encourage the region’s sovereign wealth funds to invest in British companies and also to support international institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.

Barclays secured a £6 billion investment from the Qatar and Abu Dhabi ruling families last month in return for a 30 per cent stake in the bank, but this type of capital-raising may become more difficult as Gulf investors turn away from Western markets.

Mr al-Ansari said: “Emerging markets are less indebted so their recovery could be faster than the developed markets. We in the Middle East can and should play a central role in this power shift.” DIC is understood to have made only two acquisitions this year because of turbulence in world stock markets and both were in emerging markets.

It bought a 45 per cent stake in KEC, a local oil engineering company, and it also acquired True Group, a Singapore-based spa and yoga chain. DIC plans to roll out True spas across Asia and the Middle East and opened its first store in India this week.

The fund does not expect to make any significant investments in Europe and North America during 2009 despite numerous offers from investment bankers looking to raise capital for beleaguered companies. This could be bad news for fans of Liverpool Football Club as DIC has been linked with a possible bid for the club.

The Dubai fund was close to acquiring Liverpool in 2006 until George Gillett and Tom Hicks, two American financiers, swooped on the club. Mr Gillett and Mr Hicks are thought to be looking for a buyer before they must refinance the £350 million debt they took on to buy the club.

A number of other Gulf investment funds are also refocusing on local markets after the turbulence on Western bourses.

The Kuwait Investment Authority recently repatriated $4 billion from Western markets to buy stock in its own exchange as part of a move to support local companies. The Qatar Investment Authority has also begun investing in local banks and even the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world with assets of over $700 billion, is rumoured to be changing the direction of its portfolio.

This is a significant change in strategy for the Gulf’s investment funds as they have deliberately sought to buy Western companies and shares believing that it diversified their risk and added stability to their portfolios.

However, many have seen the value of their investments fall dramatically, particularly those that have put additional capital into banks such as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS.

Samba Financial Group, a Saudi Arabian bank, said that the Gulf’s wealth funds were likely to lose about $190 billion this year, effectively wiping out the benefits accrued from the high price of oil. Mr al-Ansari said: “The balance of economic power is shifting towards emerging markets and rapidly to the developing East. Some of these markets are poised to enjoy significant growth over the next 20 years, especially after the shake-up in the financial system in the West.” Commentary, page 61

Source: The Times

Have you seen this man  he is Gideon Yu the money man of Facebook and he is in a town near you looking for funding for the Internet firm.

With the world losing money quicker then Dubai is losing desert there aren’t many places left in the world where you can go to find funding for your company, Dubai however is one.

Facebook one of the most popular websites in the world and on and off blocked in the UAE has now come to the small hamlet of Dubai to look for backing. According to a report in the Silicon Alley Insider Facebook is “Hemorrhaging Cash” and the pervious round of $500 million it managed to raise has all but gone.

Who are the parties involved in Dubai ? It seems Dubai International Capital (DIC) are the front runners in the chase for Facebook. Whether the deal goes ahead or not is a different issue but the rumour mills are now working overtime.

So if anyone has spotted Facebook CFO Gideon Yu let us all know., apparently he was returning to Dubai on 31^st October 2008 but who knows where he is at the moment, downtown Deria buying cheap replica watches as gifts for Zuckerberg and Co.

(Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Although the Liverpool owners denied yesterday that Merrill Lynch has been engaged, The Times understands that auditors looked at Liverpool’s books last week with a view to finding a buyer. So far, the search appears to be unsuccessful.

Sheikh Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, has maintained a longstanding interest in acquiring Liverpool but has balked at the price tag set by the American pair, which is upwards of £550 million.

The owners admitted last month that plans for a new stadium in Stanley Park have been put on hold indefinitely. RBS is bracing itself for a campaign of protest by the Spirit of Shankly, a Liverpool supporters’ union.

An offer from Dubai of £500million has been on the table for many months, but there has been minimal contact between the Sheikh’s representative, Amanda Staveley, and the American camp over the past few months.

Rumours of interest from Robert Kraft have swirled around Anfield in the past few weeks but it is not believed that the owner of the New England Patriots American football team is a viable bidder for Liverpool.

Source: The Times

The oil-rich Arab leader of Dubai has ditched DIC – the investment arm of his government – as the buy-out company he will use if he gets the chance to purchase the Anfield club from Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Instead, he will dip into his own wealth to get his hands on the Premier League outfit, with insiders suggesting that will allow him to invest far more money into Liverpool.

DIC’s charter states the government company must “maximise long-term shareholder value”, which in effect means it should turn over a big profit as soon as possible.

But the current financial climate wouldn’t allow that with Liverpool, and instead the Arab billionaire is ready to sink his own money into the club to build a new stadium and invest heavily in the team.

Sheikh Mohammed wants to rival the Abu Dhabi owners of Manchester City, and now sees Liverpool less in terms of a pure investment. But despite being among the wealthiest men in the world, he still refuses to pay over the odds to the Americans.

The Mirror understands that Hicks and Gillett are prepared to sell, but only at £300million above the Arab’s valuation of around £450million.

Sheikh Mohammed’s advisors though, feel that the Americans are in deep trouble because of the global credit crunch, and will be forced to sell unless there is a swift economic upturn.

Source: The Mirror