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Middle East

Unauthorised transactions force Damas family CEO to resign

October 13, 2009

The family-controlled jewellery group, Damas International Limited, has announced that second-generation Tawhid Mohammed Taher Abdullah has resigned as its chief executive and managing director.

Saudi banks suffer due to family business debt

July 13, 2009

Saudi Arabian banks are expected to report a drop in profits due to the huge debt of the region’s family-owned businesses.

Saudi Arabian banks are expected to report a drop in profits due to the huge debt of the region's family-owned businesses.

BFX offers funding opportunities to family businesses

July 3, 2009

The director of the new Bahrain Financial Exchange, Arshad Khan, stated yesterday he hopes to attract family-owned businesses to become prominent members of the exchange by offering funding opportunities.

Al-Futtaim group and DC Aviation form new business jet company in Middle East

November 17, 2008

Family-owned Al-Futtaim Group, the Dubai-based automotive, retail, electronics and financial services conglomerate, has signed a joint venture with DC Aviation to establish a new executive business jet company in the Middle East.

The new company, which will start operations in 2009, will serve the high-end Middle East market and aim to capitalise on the exponential increase in executives opting for privacy, time savings, convenience and superior personalised services.

Middle Eastern family jumps onboard new private jet business

September 19, 2008

The West may be in the grip of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1929, but in the Middle East families are on something of a spending frenzy.

After the Abu Dhabi royal family became the latest high profile investor in English football with their purchase of Manchester City at the beginning of September, another unnamed family from the region has taken a major stake in a new private jet business.

Public listing attracts family businesses in the Middle East

September 9, 2008

Family-owned businesses in the Middle East are renowned for being private but, according to a new study, a majority want to list on the region’s stock exchanges.

Family-owned businesses in the Middle East are renowned for being private but, according to a new study, a majority want to list on the region's stock exchanges.

As reported in Emirate Business, over 20% are already planning to go down the IPO route, while a further 30% intend to do so in the future.

Rami Nizzar, of Saudi Arabia based Arnest Wing who conducted the study, said those who have yet to start formal planning are holding back in order to keep hold of their fortunes.

The world is not enough

March 1, 2008

It’s been just over 50 years since Elia Nuqul and his sons built up the Jordanian powerhouse Nuqul Group – not bad for an enterprising patriarch whose trade booty once comprised humble consignments of chewing gum and shoe polish

Scott McCulloch is Editor of Families in Business magazine.

It's been just over 50 years since Elia Nuqul and his sons built up the Jordanian powerhouse Nuqul Group – not bad for an enterprising patriarch whose trade booty once comprised humble consignments of chewing gum and shoe polish

UAE relaxes IPO rules for family businesses

November 2, 2007

A new law could see a wave of family business IPOs in the UAE, but analysts and legal experts say the change is also an incremental step toward a much needed modernisation of the region’s business climate. Andrea Chipman reports …

Andrea Chipman is a freelance journalist based in the UK.

A recent change in the law on IPOs in the UAE could provide a much-needed catalyst to open up local family businesses to foreign shareholders and more broadly increase liquidity in Gulf equity markets.

In rude health

January 1, 2006

Mazen Darwazah, of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, tells Melanie Stern about being the first company from Jordan to achieve a full listing on the London Stock Exchange, and looks back at the family’s three decades of hard work and transition

Melanie Stern is section editor of Families in Business.

Palestinian icon

January 1, 2006

Scott Mcculloch is editor of Families in Business.

Rising oil prices and a construction boom aren't the only reasons CCC Group's balance sheets are shaping up nicely. Scott McCulloch discovers how a committed loyalty to an expanding workforce and a strong international network are driving the business forward