Second Dubai firm confirms US scrutiny
A second Dubai-owned company has confirmed the Bush administration has launched an unusual investigation over its potential security risks.
Dubai International Capital LLC plans to buy a British company with plants in Georgia and Connecticut that make precision parts used in engines for military aircraft and tanks.
In a statement, it said it is confident the US government will approve its $1.2 billion (€1 billion) offer to buy Doncasters Group Ltd, a British precision-engineering company.
It said it was pursuing all US regulatory approvals “Dubai International Capital is pursuing all proper US regulatory approvals “as is customary for international business transactions of this nature.”
The disclosure of a second US review involving an investment by a Dubai-owned company came just before a Senate hearing on Thursday to investigate the administration’s earlier approval of DP World’s plans to take over significant operations at major US seaports.
The Washington Post first reported the second Dubai investigation.
Senator Charles Schumer, a leading critic of the ports deal, said: “It’s become clear that Dubai Ports World isn’t a single incident.
“We not only need a thorough review of this new proposed takeover. But we need an examination of the role foreign countries – particularly those that have had a past nexus with terrorism – play in areas with vital national security interests.”
Scrutiny
The Committee of Foreign Investments in the United States has faced broad criticism in Congress over its scrutiny of the ports deal, which it approved on 17 January after a routine, 30-day review.
In a highly unusual move, DP World offered earlier this week to submit to a broader 45-day investigation to avert an impending political showdown between, George Bush, the American president and Congress.
That formal investigation has not yet started.