Dubai keeps realising its global ambitions

18 November 2005
Local investment company Istithmarhas bought a second prestige property in New York. The company's latest purchase, valued at $705 million, is the 34-story Helmsley Building at 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan.
Local investment company Istithmarhas bought a second prestige property in New York. The company's latest purchase, valued at $705 million, is the 34-story Helmsley Building at 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan.

Credit Suisse First Boston(CSFB) will arrange the financing for the deal. Istithmar plans to spend $10 million on upgrading the 1.2 million-square-foot tower's electrical and communications infrastructure. The acquisition follows Istithmar's purchase of Essex House in New York for $440 million in September. The company also purchased the landmark One Trafalgar Square office building in London in October for $268 million.

In another transaction, UK-based The Tussauds Group, owned by the investment arm of Dubai Holding, Dubai International Capital (DIC), has bought a 33 per cent stake in the British Airways (BA)London Eye and $304.7 million worth of debt in a deal worth $165.2 million.Tussauds operates and manages the tourist attraction and plans to invest $86.9 million in the observation wheel on London's South Bank that it co-founded with BA and the site's designer, Marks Barfield Architects (MEED 25:3:05).

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