Dubai’s Union Properties Nears Ritz-Carlton Sale to Fund Towers - BusinessWeek

Union Properties PJSC is close to selling its Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dubai and plans to dispose of other assets after the developer “got distracted” during the property boom and took on projects and businesses that were a poor fit, its chairman said.

The company “got involved in so many businesses that were not core,” said Khalid Bin Kalban, who took over when Chief Executive Officer Simon Azzam resigned a year ago after 23 years in charge. “I don’t understand the rationale.”

Union Properties, Dubai’s third-largest developer, halted projects after credit dried up in the financial crisis and an increasing number of customers defaulted. In 2009, the company reported its first full-year loss and suspended work on F1-X, a Formula One theme park in the MotorCity development at the Dubai Autodrome race track.