Rob Smeets steps up as new port of Antwerp-Bruges CEO
The port of Antwerp-Bruges has appointed Rob Smeets (above) as its new chief executive, for ...
DP World announced that its chairman and chief executive, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem (above), has “resigned from the company, effective immediately”.
The board announced that Essa Kazim had been appointed chairman and Yuvraj Narayan, deputy CEO and CFO, appointed group CEO.
The 71-year-old Mr bin Sulayem is the de facto founder of the Dubai-headquartered terminal operator and architect of an M&A spree that lasted over 20 years which catapulted the company into the premier league of global port owners.
However, over the past week he has become embroiled in scandal with his name repeatedly appearing in the latest tranche of Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice.
The ensuing outcry could have potentially blown a hole in DP World’s finances, after Canadian pension fund La Caisse announced it would be halting all future joint investments with DP World in the wake of the revelations.
La Caisse (formerly known as Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, or CDPQ), has, since 2016, been building a sizeable stake in a number of DP World facilities across the world, including in its flagship Jebel Ali facilities.
According to this analysis from Loadstar Premium, written shortly after La Caisse earmarked a $5bn investment into DP World in 2022, in the past 10 years the DP World-La Caisse “investment platform” has injected around $13.2bn into DP World assets, and proved to be invaluable in reducing DP World’s debt.
“It is no secret that Dubai World’s debt pile soared in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis – effectively the remedies of today are for injuries it suffered some 14 years ago, and which continue to ripple through the emirate.
“DP World’s burgeoning kinship with CDPQ should be viewed through this prism: CDPQ, the second-largest Canadian pension fund with about $331bn of assets under management, effectively has been ‘building a stake’ since 2016 in DP World … and continues to do so via selected assets, which both parties refer to as a global investment platform,” Premium wrote.
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