Dubai Holding, the parent company of investment vehicle Dubai Group, is undergoing a transformation to help it weather the crisis. Based on a share price of 0.54 rial at 1225 GMT, the 41 percent stake in ONIC is worth about $90 million. In October, Dubai Group said it would reassess its investment strategy and was reviewing options to sell its stake in Malaysia's Bank Islam. In December, it sold a 7 percent stake in Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes for $120 million.
Talks with ONIC are in the preliminary stage, and no written mandate has been agreed upon, the sources said. However, it could be difficult for Dubai Group to get a "significant" premium for its stake as ONIC stock has risen on hopes the Oman investment firm may reach a separate deal to sell one of its insurance subsidiaries, one of the sources said. "ONIC has been in the market trying to sell their insurance subsidiary, and the stock has been rising on that," the source said without revealing more information about the deal. ONIC shares have risen more than 60 percent in the past six months.