Wednesday 4 February 2009

Dubai's Istithmar slows investment as result of credit crisis

UAE. Istithmar World, a Dubai government-owned investment company with about US$10 billion in assets, has slowed investment because of the global credit crisis.

Chief Investment Officer Felix Herlihy said that even though Istithmar was “inundated” with calls for investment, the company didn’t plan to rush into something because it looked cheap. “We want to stick to what we know enough about,” Herlihy said at a conference in Dubai.

Istithmar owns Barneys New York, a majority of Gulf Stream Asset Management, and 20% of Canadian circus troupe Cirque du Soleil. The company last month said it cut staff by 10%, or 13 employees, to reduce costs.

Istithmar will continue to look for opportunities in building products, transport, logistics, insurance, emerging market banks, healthcare and education, Herlihy said.

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