Dubai Group, a government-controlled investment holding company, has appointed the emirate’s largest lender, Emirates NBD, to help it find a buyer for its stake in investment bank Shuaa Capital.

The sale process is at an early stage, news agency Bloomberg cited people familiar with the deal as saying. Dubai Group holds a 48 per cent stake in Shuaa, worth about $100m.

Dubai Group, Emirates NBD and Shuaa declined to comment.

Shares in Dubai-listed Shuaa, which have lost about two-thirds of their value in the past two years, have seen trading volumes go up in recent weeks. The stock has risen close to 70 per cent so far this year. The company has seen four CEOs in about five years and it has been without one since the end of 2013, Bloomberg reported.

Dubai Group is among several companies in the emirate that were forced to restructure loans arranged before the 2008 property crash. The firm reached a final agreement with lenders to restructure $6bn in 2014, after three years of talks.

The company also owns stakes in Oman’s biggest lender, Bank Muscat, and in Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes, according to its website.