Istithmar & Co turn focus on sales - The National Newspaper

Few people were surprised when Istithmar World, the private-equity arm of the government-owned conglomerate Dubai World, decided to stop making new investments late last year. The firing this year of David Jackson, the company’s freewheeling chief executive, also raised few eyebrows.

Mr Jackson had presided over the assembly of a business empire that spanned the globe, financed with billions of dollars of debt at a time when money flowed like water through the global financial system. Yet as banks and investors retrenched after the financial crisis, the underpinnings of Istithmar’s business model began to erode, ushering in a new era of restraint and causing financial turmoil for Istithmar and many of the companies it acquired.

It quickly became clear that the investment strategy Mr Jackson personified was going out of style. According to one source who did not want to be named, between its founding in 2003 and the end of 2008, Istithmar had spent about US$11.6 billion (Dh42.6bn) on assets including prime property in London and New York, and controlling stakes in the retailers Barneys New York and Loehmann’s.