Key Dubai shareholder opts out of Bank Muscat rights sale: sources - Reuters
DUBAI |
DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai Group, the investment vehicle owned by the emirate's ruler and second-largest shareholder in Bank Muscat BMAO.OM, has sold its rights to buy into a share offering by the Omani lender at a significant discount, two sources said on Sunday.
Bank Muscat, Oman's largest lender, offered new shares to existing holders at a 25-percent discount to raise about $251 million to fund its credit growth and venture into Islamic finance.
Dubai Group, in the midst of a $10-billion debt restructuring, had the rights to buy an additional 33.387 million shares, valued at about 0.06 rials ($0.16).
The investment firm sold most of those rights at almost a 50-percent discount in two separate over-the-counter deals for between 0.03 rials and 0.035 rials each on Thursday, the sources said speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The rights sale is at a significant discount to the current value," said one market source. "It goes to show that the group has very little interest to commit additional capital in the bank and is trying to cash whatever value it can."
Dubai Group declined to comment. Bank Muscat did not respond to requests for comment.
Oman allows rights to be traded during the subscription period, enabling existing shareholders to pass on their rights to willing buyers. On Sunday, Bank Muscat shares were up 3.2 percent at 0.516 rials. The rights price stood at 0.073 rials.
Pricing on the rights is normally calculated as the difference between the rights issue price - 0.427 rials in Bank Muscat's offering - and the current market price. The bank's stock closed at 0.500 rials on Thursday.
Dubai Group bought its 14.7 percent stake in Bank Muscat for $619 million in 2007 through a private placement, making it the second-largest shareholder in the bank after Oman's Royal Court Affairs which represents the Omani ruler's personal interests.
The company has seen the value of that stake fall to around $400 million at current market prices.
DEBT WOES
Dubai Group, part of Dubai Holding DUBAH.UL, the personal investment firm of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, was hard hit by the global financial crisis and seen the value of most of its holdings deteriorate.
Like most other state-linked entities in the emirate, it embarked on negotiations with creditors to restructure debt and extend maturities.
Dubai Group is relying on asset sales to repay its obligations and wants time for values to recover before selling.
Its financial assets include stakes in Egypt's EFG Hermes (HRHO.CA), knocked by Middle Eastern turmoil, and Cyprus Popular Bank CPBC.CY, formerly Marfin, whose recapitalization forced Cyprus to seek an international bailout. Dubai Group also has a stake in Borse Dubai, which owns 20.6 percent of the London Stock Exchange.
In the latest blow to the firm's restructuring talks, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and two other international banks abandoned talks and threatened to bring legal action against the investment vehicle, sources close to the matter told Reuters last week.
Bank Muscat's shares have dropped 10 percent since the rights sale kicked off on July 2, compared with a four-percent drop for the broader index over the same time. The shares are down 23 percent year-to-date. ($1 = 0.3851 Omani rials)
(Reporting by Dinesh Nair; Editing by Amran Abocar)
Andre Villas Boas takes another swipe at Chelsea - Football
Published: 15 Jul 2012 - 09:46:52
Andre Villas Boas's bitterness at his sacking by Chelsea last season surfaced again on Sunday as he said his new club Spurs did not seek out scapegoats if they were going through a bad patch.
The 34-year-old Portuguese - who lasted just 256 days at Chelsea before owner Roman Abramovich lost patience after a run of just one win in six Premier League games and sacked him - said Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had a better feel for football than Abramovich.
"I met the (Spurs) chairman (Daniel Levy), and saw the way he goes about his business at the club," said Villas Boas, who arrived at Chelsea on the back of a stellar season at Porto guiding them to several trophies including the league title and the Europa League.
"He knows what he is doing, approaching the market in a different way. He is a person of great football understanding and he had the effect of giving me the assurances I wanted in terms of building something."
Villas Boas, who was named Spurs coach on July 3 succeeding Harry Redknapp, said that Spurs style of adventurous football should suit him down to the ground.
He said he wanted to emulate the achievements of legendary coach Bill Nicholson who in a 16 year reign (1958-74) delivered a domestic double (1961) and two further FA Cups as well as the 1963 Cup Winners Cup (now defunct) and 1972 UEFA Cup (now the Europa League).
"Tottenham are linked with great football in the past," said Villas Boas, who earlier in the week claimed he should have got some credit for Chelsea going on to win the FA Cup and Champions League under his replacement Roberto di Matteo.
"It is something they have always valued highly. There is a wonderful history of attractive football, and Bill Nicholson left these messages of football well played and doing things in style, which is what I want to achieve as well.
"The structures that surround Tottenham are extremely good. There are competent people in and around the football club. The club is driven towards success, and everybody knows they must play a part in achieving that success.
"They are not looking for certain scapegoats, and when so many people are striving forward, it makes your job easier."
Villas Boas, whose side ironically will have to contest the Europa League as Chelsea's win in the Champions League saw them take Spurs place in next season's premier European club competition, said he had not received the promised backing for his project at Chelsea.
"Words did not meet the actions of what we were doing [at Chelsea] in terms of the project, so I think I was cut short," he said.
"This club (Tottenham) is much more important than me and what I have to do is try to take them to success and not make it a personal issue."
Villas Boas said that in terms of players he was willing to let Croat star Luka Modric go but not Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart.
"With Van der Vaart, at the moment I am absolutely counting on him," he said.
"It is a totally different situation from Luka (Modric), who has been chased by different clubs in the past two seasons and is continuing to drag interest.
"We have to make sure the club's interests are met and it is up to the chairman to decide that."
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