United Arab Emirates

Two United Arab Emirates airlines have held talks with South African Airways about a partnership that it says is needed to revive its business, City Press reported, citing the U.A.E. ambassador to South Africa. Talks between Emirates Airline and SAA, which have been going on for some months, are being facilitated by the U.A.E.’s embassy in Pretoria, the Johannesburg-based newspaper cited Mahash Alhameli as saying, Bloomberg News reported. Etihad Airways has also been holding separate negotiations with SAA, he said.

In Dubai's posh Jumeirah Beach Residence district, luxury apartment rents are down about 15 percent from a year ago - a sign, some fear, that the wealthy emirate's recipe for economic success is getting stale, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. For over two decades, Dubai prospered as one of the world's most international cities, attracting people and capital from across the globe. Nine years ago, it needed a $20 billion bailout from oil-rich Abu Dhabi to escape a debt crisis caused by collapsing property prices.

Abraaj Group Ltd. is being sued by one of the founders of a Turkish dairy maker that the embattled buyout firm is trying to sell, according to people familiar with the matter. The legal action comes as liquidators of Dubai-based Abraaj seek to dispose of assets in developing nations around the world to help repay more than $1 billion in debt, Bloomberg News reported.

Some investors in funds managed by Dubai-based Abraaj want to block the sale of assets to Colony Capital pending a review of Abraaj’s handling of funds, according to a report seen by Reuters, potentially delaying a deal key to the survival of the investment management business. United States-based Colony offered last month to buy the fund management unit that runs Abraaj’s Latin America, Sub Saharan Africa, North Africa and Turkey funds after months of turmoil at Abraaj triggered by a dispute with investors over the use of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund, Reuters reported.

A Sharjah court judge on Thursday adjourned the case against Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi for issuing a $48.2m cheque with insufficient funds as talks to settle the debt move ahead, the Financial Times reported. Adjournment until July 11 comes after late night negotiations between representatives for Mr Naqvi and Hamid Jafar, the founder of Crescent Group, who loaned Abraaj $300m last December. The criminal case, which had its first hearing on June 28, relates to one of several cheques signed by Mr Naqvi and a co-defendant and written to Mr Jafar, which were dishonoured when presented.

Bonds issued by EA Partners, a special purpose vehicle linked to Etihad Airways, fell to the lowest on record this week after the company said it wants to discuss restructuring some of its debt with creditors. EA Partners II’s $500 million of bonds due June 2021 are quoted at a bid price of 63 cents on the dollar, about 5 cents lower since last week, according to two separate brokers contacted by Bloomberg.

A United Arab Emirates court is expected to rule next week on a criminal case against Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi for issuing a check without sufficient funds, a lawyer involved in the case said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The Sharjah court case relates to a check for 177.1 million dirhams ($48 million), signed by Naqvi and fellow executive Muhammad Rafique Lakhani, and written to Hamid Jafar, another founding shareholder in private equity firm Abraaj, according to a prosecution document and a clerk at the prosecutor’s office.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have issued arrest warrants for the founder of private equity firm Abraaj and another executive for issuing a check without sufficient funds, according to a prosecution document seen by Reuters. The warrants are the latest setback for the Middle East and Africa’s biggest private equity fund, which has been locked in a dispute with four investors over the use of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund, Reuters reported. Abraaj has denied misusing funds.

The co-chief executives of Abraaj Investment Management Ltd (AIML) are stepping down from the board of the unit, days after the Dubai-based firm agreed to sell the bulk of the business to Colony Capital, Reuters reported. This is the latest shakeup at Abraaj, the Middle East and Africa’s largest private equity firm, which has been bruised by a dispute with some of its investors over the use of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund. The group has denied it misused the funds.

Saudi shares rose at the open on Thursday, while Dubai-listed Air Arabia tumbled after the carrier revealed it had an exposure of $336 million to embattled Dubai private equity firm Abraaj, Reuters reported. The Tadawul All-Share Index was up 0.3 percent, led by financial shares, after the kingdom’s bourse was granted inclusion by MSCI into the index provider’s emerging markets benchmark. Al Rajhi Bank and the country’s largest lender National Commercial Bank were both up one percent.