Business | Investment
Britain tops Mideast investment target
Britain, the US and Sweden are the biggest recipients of almost $80 billion of Middle Eastern investment in the first nine months, with Qatar the biggest buyer.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:21 October 5, 2007
Dubai: Britain, the US and Sweden are the biggest recipients of almost $80 billion of Middle Eastern investment in the first nine months, with Qatar the biggest buyer.
Middle Eastern nations, including Qatar and the UAE, sank or proposed to sink $41.1 billion into Britain-based companies during the nine months to September 30, the data show.
Of all the deals, Qatar's proposed $32.8 billion takeover of British supermarket chain J. Sainsbury Plc is the largest, followed by the Saudi Basic Industries Corp's $11.6 billion purchase of the plastics unit of General Electric Co, the data show.
Dubai's proposed $4.1 billion offer for Stockholm-based Nordic and Baltic stock exchange company OMX puts Sweden in third place. Dubai has since raised its offer to $4.9 billion.
Arab investors also spent or said they would invest about $9.5 billion in Egypt, Malaysia and Germany, the data show.
At $3.84 billion, pending purchase of Britain-based fashion retailer New Look by Dubai-based Landmark Group was the fourth-biggest deal.
More from Investment
More from Business
Business Editor's choice
-
Do unemployment figures flatter to deceive?
Jobseekers and recruiters give out mixed signals ranging from optimism to downright despair even as official data show recovery
-
Banks can increase their share
Longer opening hours, more locations outside cities and lower charges can help
-
Geepas idea blossomed in Dubai
The journey led from a small shop in Bahrain to a $1.27b company in the UAE
