DIFC Investments (DIFCI), the investment arm of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), is selling off assets expected to be worth around $1bn as part of its restructuring efforts.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) confirmed the restructuring in its latest assessment of the firm, where it put the B rating on negative outlook.

S&P said the disposal program was “a positive step with respect to DIFCI’s creditworthiness, [but] we think it involves execution risk.” It added that negative outlook reflected “uncertainties about the timing and success of what we see as an ambitious disposal program.”

DIFCI plans to complete the sell-off of its non-core assets by the end of 2011, says S&P. It also estimated the firms total debt at $3.1bn at the end of 2009.