DUBAI: Dubai Group, part of the ruler of Dubai’s personal empire, has cut half its staff of about 30 people as part of cost-cutting measures in its $10bn restructuring, three sources said yesterday.
Among those to leave the firm is Chief Investment Officer Trevor Regan, who joined the company in December 2011, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information is not public.
“We can confirm that a number of staff have been made redundant as part of the constant cost review process, this will not impact the management of our investment portfolio,” a Dubai Group spokesman said in an emailed statement.
Most of the cuts are in back office roles such as IT and are part of a plan to reduce costs at the firm to make it more attractive to lenders considering a restructuring proposal.
“The company has been very aggressively paring back costs to a bare minimum,” a second source aware of the move said.
“There were always going to be some changes to make the company more efficient going forward,” a third source added.
Dubai Group, part of Dubai Holding was hit hard by the global financial crisis in 2008 due to excessive use of leverage in its investments and a sharp decline in asset values.
Texas-based ConocoPhillips announced early in 2012 it was aiming to sell non-core assets globally as part of a restructuring drive while India has been scouring the globe to lock in fuel supplies to feed its expanding economy.
Agencies
