Succession dramas add impetus to #UAE’s draft family business law | Financial Times

Succession dramas add impetus to UAE’s draft family business law | Financial Times

More than two decades ago, the cousins running the Al-Futtaim conglomerate, one of the Gulf’s biggest family-run businesses, fell out. Such was the importance of Al-Futtaim to the Gulf state, Dubai’s then crown prince stepped in, mediating Abdulla al-Futtaim’s buyout of his cousin Majid’s stake. 

Majid then went on to establish his own retail empire and after the billionaire’s death in December, Dubai’s leadership has stepped in again — this time in an attempt to smooth the succession of his eponymous business to his 10 heirs. 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has set up a special judicial committee to deal with “potential legal disputes related to Mr Majid’s estate and inheritance issues”, according to Majid Al Futtaim Group. 

The ruler’s move recognises both the importance of the firm, which runs 27 malls including Dubai’s flagship Mall of the Emirates, and the debilitating impact of succession conflicts on the private companies that contribute an estimated $160bn, or 40 per cent, of the UAE’s economic output.