Dubai wealth fund extends due diligence for Colonial

Madrid: The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) wants to spend more time going through the books of bid target Spanish real estate firm Colonial, and has extended the due diligence period to February 27, the sovereign wealth fund said yesterday.

On February 1, Colonial said it had opened its books to ICD for two weeks and the Dubai sovereign wealth fund said it would announce its decision within three days of going through the accounts.

Colonial shares were little changed at 1.72 euros at 0912 GMT.

The stock has more than halved over the past six months after it emerged management of the highly indebted company had bought derivatives of the company shares, using the stock as guarantee.

Losses

The move forced out former chairman Luis Portillo and contributed to about 40 million euros of losses at Gaesco, the Barcelona broker used for the transactions, as investors could not cover their positions when the stock plunged.

Colonial has debt of about nine billion euros and assets of 12 billion euros. The company has been caught by the end of a decade-long boom in the Spanish property sector, where prices have more than doubled over the past few years.