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Dubai's $1.2 Bln Bid for U.S.
Weapons Maker Delayed Dubai, which agreed this month to sell its interest in U.S. ports, said its $1.2 billion takeover of a U.K. company with U.S. plants that make military equipment is delayed while the authorities investigate security concerns. Dubai International Capital LLC, which is owned by the government of the Persian Gulf emirate, and Doncasters Group Ltd. agreed to delay the transaction by as many as two months from March 31 while government agencies review the purchase, Sameer Al Ansari, Dubai International's chief executive, said in an interview today. ``After what happened with Dubai Ports, the government is looking at this deal more closely,'' Al Ansari said after a press conference in Dubai announcing an agreement with HSBC Holdings Plc. Dubai's bid may ignite a similar political furor in the U.S. to that the emirate's purchase of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. caused last month when DP World had to agree to sell interests in six U.S. terminals. Revenue from Doncasters' nine U.S. plants, which make parts for tanks and military aircraft, account for about 40 percent of total sales. The derailing of the ports plan was a setback for President George W. Bush, who was rebuffed by fellow Republicans and stung by polls that showed strong public opposition to the sale. Dubai is one of seven sheikdoms making up the United Arab Emirates, from where two of the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks came. The Committee on Foreign Investment, a federal body which considers the sale of U.S. assets to foreign companies, started a more detailed 45-day investigation into the Doncasters agreement at the end of February, said Al Ansari. Al Ansari declined to comment on whether the transaction will go through. Dubai Investments Dubai International last year spent $1 billion for a stake in DaimlerChrysler AG and 800 million pounds ($1.4 billion) for Tussauds Group, owner of London's Madame Tussauds waxworks museum. Doncasters, which is based in Melbourne, England, has plants in Rincon, Georgia; Groton, Connecticut, and other U.S. sites. Its customers include Boeing Co. and General Electric Co., according to information on its Web site. Gulf Arab governments, flush with record oil revenue, are spending billions of dollars on companies from South Korea to the U.S. Kuwait's state-controlled PWC Logistics, which won a U.S. military contract last year worth as much as $14 billion to feed troops in Iraq, agreed in July to buy Santa Ana, California-based GeoLogistics Corp. for $454 million. GeoLogistics is an international freight management company with operations in more than 100 countries, according to its Web site. --------------------------------------------------- Please help our fight against the New World Order by giving a donation. As bandwidth costs increase, the only way we can stay online and expand is with your support. Please consider giving a monthly or one-off donation for whatever you can afford. You can pay securely by either credit card or Paypal. Click here to donate. |
