Dnata buys cargo, ground services operations at Heathrow airport

London: Dnata, a company owned by the Dubai government is buying the loss-making cargo and ground services operations at London's Heathrow airport from a British company, just a week after the emirate's main investment company sparked a share sell-off.

Go-Ahead Group PLC said Thursday it had exchanged contracts to sell most of the Heathrow and Manchester services to Dnata, a travel services provider owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai for 15 million pounds ($25 million).

The Investment Corporation of Dubai, which owns the Emirates airline and major aluminum and infrastructure industries, is the second of two-state owned companies alongside Dubai World - the company that kicked off last week's flurry on stock markets when it announced it was seeking to delay repaying some of its $60 billion in debt.