Dubai World has retracted a statement last month that it moved hotel and property assets to its investment arm Istithmar World from elsewhere within the conglomerate, saying that Istithmar already owned the assets in question.
Dubai World, which has an estimated US$5.5 billion (Dh20.2bn) in debt and another $53.5bn in consolidated liabilities at its various subsidiaries, announced in mid-September that as part of its ongoing restructuring “selected hotel and real estate assets and the management teams related to these assets, primarily in international markets, have been transferred to Istithmar World”. The release went on to name four executives from Nakheel, the property developer it controls, who were being transferred to Istithmar World. Among them were Nakheel’s chief investment officer and chief financial officer.
In a clarification last week to NASDAQ Dubai citing “conflicting media reports”, Dubai World said “the ownership of these assets was and continues to be with IW”. The company did not issue a clarification to the media accompanying that statement. John Hobday, an official at Financial Dynamics, a public relations firm representing Dubai World, confirmed the assets in question were already owned by Istithmar World, but had been managed by Nakheel. “That’s normal in the hotel industry,” he said, of the split between management and ownership.
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