Middle East

Financial News

Oaktree Poised to Take Over Almatis From Dubai in Debt-For-Equity Exchange Oaktree Capital Management LLC, the investment fund with about $73 billion under management, is set to take control of Almatis from Dubai International Capital LLC under the terms of a $1 billion debt restructuring.

Dubai World Is Yet to Present Formal Proposal to Banks on $26 Billion Debt Dubai World, the state-owned holding company restructuring $26 billion in debt, is yet to present a formal proposal to its creditors, said a spokeswoman for the emirate’s Department of Finance.

Dubai Shares Climb to Two-Month High on Speculation of Improved Debt Deal Dubai shares rose to the highest in almost two months on speculation Dubai World, the state-owned holding company in talks to renegotiate $26 billion of debt, may announce better repayment terms than previously expected.

Israeli Government Sell 1.5 Billion Euros of Debt at Yield Near Ireland's Israel raised 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in its first offering of euro-denominated bonds since 2005 to help diversify funding sources.

Etihad in Talks With Airbus to Delay Delivery Schedule for A380 Superjumbo Etihad Airways, the state carrier of Abu Dhabi, is in talks about delaying receipt of Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos while bringing other deliveries forward as it seeks to post a profit by the end of next year.

Petrofac Targets Iraq's Oil Boom After CEO Asfari Quadruples Share Value Ayman Asfari, the chief executive officer whose oil and gas engineering skills guided a fourfold increase in the value of Petrofac Plc within five years, is now preparing to tap Iraq’s energy boom.

Dubai Utility Says Banks Agree to Forego Loan Fee From Ratings Downgrade Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, the state-owned utility seeking to sell bonds in the second quarter, said banks waived an additional margin on its $2.2 billion syndicated loan raised last year.

Bahrain's Low Debt Levels Give It More Fiscal Room, Finance Minister Says Bahrain’s low levels of debt give the Gulf state room to adjust fiscal policy to help the economy through the global crisis, Finance Minister Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Khalifa said.

Iran Says Oil Fund Will Expand if Price of Crude Stays Above $65 a Barrel Iran, holder of the world’s second- biggest oil and gas reserves, will add to its oil stabilization fund if crude prices remain over $65 in the coming 12 months, the deputy central bank governor said.

Shekel at 3-Week High May Gain Further as Fails to Break `Support' Level The shekel, trading at the highest level in three weeks, may see more gains on further positive economic data and technical factors, according to Rony Gitlin, head of shekel spot-trading at Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd.

General News

Allawi's Bloc Raises Suspicion of Iraq Vote Tampering Amid First Results Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi complained about possible vote-tampering as the first results from Iraq’s election showed blocs led by Allawi and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki leading in their areas of core support.

Official Crackdowns on Media, Internet Use Increasing Worldwide, U.S. Says Crackdowns on the media and on Internet use rose last year in China, Iran, Russia and other nations in an effort by governments to clamp down on dissent, according to the annual U.S. report on human rights.

Gates Sees Saudi Help, International Support for Tougher Sanctions on Iran Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday the U.S. has enough backing from other nations to make tougher sanctions work against Iran and signaled that Saudi Arabia may try to persuade China, its biggest oil customer, to go along.

Energy Prices