The government of the Gulf emirate of Dubai said yesterday that it had bought a $1 billion stake in DaimlerChrysler AG.
The purchase was made through the government's wholly owned Dubai Holding company, which said in a statement it was now the third-biggest shareholder in the German-American auto manufacturer.
"This is a perfect time to acquire shares in DaimlerChrysler as the company begins to bear the fruits of its merger with Chrysler," said Mr Mohammed Al Gergawi, chief executive of Dubai Holding.
Dubai Holding had faith in DaimlerChrysler's current management team, he said in a statement. Dubai, the trade and tourism hub of the Gulf region, set up the holding company in late 2004 to oversee the emirate's multi-billion dollar investment projects.
The firm is mainly focused on real estate and tourism ventures in Dubai, but it also set up an international private equity arm, Dubai International Capital, for foreign acquisitions.
Dubai is one of the emirates in the oil-rich Gulf state of the United Arab Emirates. At last Friday's shareprice, $1 billion would buy the Dubai government about 2.2 per cent of DaimlerChrysler. The biggest shareholder in the company is currently Deutsche Bank. - (Reuters)
