Dubai: Just as Dubai Ports World took a step forward, gaining approval of Britain's High Court for its purchase of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., another Dubai-owned company came under fire.
Justice Nicholas Warren in London dismissed an appeal from Miami-based Eller & Co. to block the deal before approving the $6.8 billion acquisition. "This is really a routine thing," Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World, told Gulf News.
DP World, which has already received approval from the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CIFIUS) for the deal, has tried to dampen some of the US outcry by volunteering to submit to a second 45-day investigation of the acquisition.
However, Dubai International Capital, which signed an agreement in December to buy precision-engineering firm Doncasters Group, is now the focus of an unusual inquiry. Doncasters has US subsidiaries that produce parts used in military aircraft and tanks.
US Senator Christopher Dodd cited disclosure of the second investigation as proof lawmakers should consider updating the confidential process for approving such transactions after the 9/11 attacks.
CONSULTATION
Bill Clinton helped Dubai on ports deal
Former US president Bill Clinton advised top officials from Dubai two weeks ago on how to address growing US concerns over the acquisition of five American ports by DP World.
It came even as Clinton's wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, was leading efforts to derail the deal. Clinton, who this week called the UAE a "good ally to America," advised Dubai's top officials to propose a 45-day delay to allow for an intensive investigation of the acquisition, according to his spokesman. On Sunday, DP World agreed with the White House to undertake the lengthy review, a move which has assuaged some of the opposition from the US Congress.
- Financial Times
