Stars in his eyes

It will be a busy summer for Dubai private equity firm Zabeel Investments, as it lines up a series of high-profile acquisitions across the United States. Andrew White listens as executive chairman Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi outlines his ambitious plans for 2008.

At a time when most of the world's investment houses are looking to the Gulf or China for inspiration, Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi, executive chairman of Zabeel Investments, has his eyes trained firmly on the US.

More specifically, he has set his sights on a string of acquisitions across the US, with boutique hotels in New York, Los Angeles and Miami on the radar.

"I am getting myself into a position so that when I am ready, all I need to do is flick the switch," he smiles, settling into a comfortable chair in his office at the Dubai International Financial Centre.

I'm putting everything together, and people are working around the clock to get things ready. It's not a matter of ‘if'; it's a matter of ‘when'.

According to Al Hashimi, the US$1bn spending spree is timed to take advantage of the current uncertainty surrounding the US economy's short to medium-term prospects. "I am very optimistic about the US [economy] - whatever is happening now, it is temporary," he says.

The US will bounce back, and I'm looking on this as a small window of opportunity.

It's kind of open now, and I think it might open a little more, but for certain it will only be open for a short period of time.

In February, Zabeel took a strategic step into the hospitality sector, through the acquisition of a 50% stake in US hospitality development and management company, The Light Group.

The deal marked Zabeel's first foray into the US market, and The Light Group will manage and operate The Harmon Hotel in Las Vegas, a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Dubai World.

"The Light Group deal was a very interesting one, and it shows how we from Dubai operate in the world - we operate quite entrepreneurially, and bureaucracy doesn't take a hold," insists Al Hashimi.

It has become politicised, with people comparing the Arabs to the Japanese in the 1980s when they came in and started buying everything up, but it's about business at the end of the day.

The Light Group today has about 850 employees, but by the end of next year we should have over 2500.

The potential for expansion is what first attracted Zabeel to The Light Group, says Al Hashimi. That, and the bright lights of another famous desert city: Las Vegas.

"When people say ‘Las Vegas', they automatically think ‘gambling', but there is so much more than that," he insists. "It's about hospitality, and Las Vegas knows hospitality: the restaurants, the shows, and the best hotels in the world.

It is a model that Dubai could learn from, he argues. If Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world, then Al Hashimi sees no reason why Dubai can't be the entertainment capital of the Middle East at least. In fact, Zabeel will test that theory when it unveils plans for two ‘Light Hotels', in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, later this year.

"While Dubai has done exceptionally well in terms of real estate development and hotels, there's still a lot of opportunity particularly on what I would call the entertainment side - restaurants and food and beverage," he says.

When you go to a hotel you want a nice bed and a room, but you also want to be entertained as well. I'm not saying that's not available today in Dubai, but I can see more growth opportunity in that area.

The Light Group's portfolio already includes several food and beverage properties at AAA Five Diamond Bellagio Resort & Casino, The Mirage Hotel & Casino, Monte Carlo Resort & Casino and Treasure Island Hotel & Casino - and Al Hashimi aims to leverage that US experience in order to bring a little bit of Las Vegas to the Middle East.

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