The two largest property financiers in the booming Gulf emirate of Dubai - Amlak Finance PJSC and Tamweel PJSC - announced on Saturday that they have opened merger talks. The two firms said they had the blessing of Dubai emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, in a statement carried by the UAE's official WAM news agency.
Tamweel chairman Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed bin Saqer al-Nahayan said that the major shareholders - Emaar Properties for Amlak Finance, and Dubai Islamic Bank and Dubai World for Tamweel - were "fully supportive of the merger discussions". "We hope to move the process forward quickly and efficiently with minimal disruption to our customers and employees," he said.
Both companies will call extraordinary general meetings to seek approval for any deal. Goldman Sachs International has been asked to act as financial adviser for the merger talks, which are expected to bear fruit in early 2009.