DUBAI (Reuters) – HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Europe’s largest bank, is buying the onshore retail, corporate and commercial banking business of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in the United Arab Emirates, to strengthen its Middle East presence.

HSBC is buying gross assets valued at $769 million at the end of 2011 and is expected to complete the deal in the second half of this year.

U.K.-based Lloyds, which is in the process of reducing its international presence, said the impact of the sale on its accounts was not expected to be material.

HSBC is acquiring a business with approximately 8,800 personal and commercial customers and a loan book of around $573 million. The deal excludes Lloyds’ other private and expatriate off-shore operations based in the UAE.

“Acquisition opportunities in this region are scarce, and this is an important opportunity that we have seized,” Simon Cooper, regional chief executive of HSBC Bank Middle East, told a media conference call.

He declined to give a value for the deal, which is subject to regulatory clearance. He denied HSBC was looking to buy Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) banking licence in the country.

Lloyds, 40 percent owned by the British government after a state bailout during the 2008 credit crisis, is shrinking to halve its international presence and cut 15,000 jobs.

Dubai/Rio de Janeiro, March 26 (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi state investment fund Mubadala said on Monday it will buy a $2 billion stake in Brazil’s EBX Group, providing fresh capital to the Brazilian conglomerate as it boosts spending on oil, ports, shipyards, mines and electricity.

Mubadala, which has stakes in General Electric and private equity firm Carlyle, said the investment will give it a 5.63 percent preferred equity interest in Centennial Asset Brazilian Equity Fund, the personal investment company of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, who is behind the EBX Group.

The investment comes as EBX seeks to raise an additional $1 billion for its shipbuilding and ship-leasing company OSX Brasil and billions more in debt and equity capital to expand oil and gas output, complete port facilities, build thermal power plants, and dig iron ore and coal mines.

It is the $46 billion Mubadala fund’s biggest investment in Latin America and part of efforts to boost spending in Latin America and other emerging markets that are growing faster than traditional markets in North America and Europe.

“This… transaction marks our first significant direct investment into one of the fastest growing markets and is an important step in Mubadala’s development of strategic opportunities in Brazil and Latin America,” Khaldoon al-Mubarak, Mubadala’s chief executive and managing director, said in a statement.

The EBX investment follows a report this week that Mubadala is in talks to take a stake in a Guinean bauxite joint venture.

Shares of Batista-controlled MMX Mineracao, EBX’s iron ore unit, rose 3.91 percent in Sao Paulo, while LLX Logistica, EBX’s port and transportation company, rose 0.54 percent. OSX rose 0.47 percent, while electricity, coal and natural gas unit MPX rose 1.10 percent. Brazil’s benchmark Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo stock exchange rose 0.9 percent.

DUBAI (Reuters) – World’s tallest building? Check. Man-made islands in the sea? Check. Indoor ski slope? Check. Now it’s time for opera and art.

Dubai, which burst onto the global stage with a series of extravagant projects before being subdued by a crippling debt crisis, has now revived plans for an opera house in a bid to boost tourism.

The once high-flying Gulf Arab emirate unveiled plans for a modern art museum and opera house district in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

The entertainment complex will include an opera house, modern art museum, art galleries, two new hotels and residential housing, the government announced on Wednesday.

But unlike its heyday, when everything was aimed at making Dubai’s name shine brighter, the government was careful to couch the new development as “the UAE’s news arts and cultural nerve centre,” a sign of the closer federal ties forged in the aftermath of Dubai’s 2009 debt fiasco.

“The cultural accomplishments of a nation define its character and individuality,” Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said in a statement.

“We will continue to strengthen the infrastructure framework for promoting cultural initiatives, through projects such as the Dubai Modern Art Museum & Opera House District.”

DUBAI (Reuters) – Dubai, which narrowly averted a bond default in 2009, could use money raised by its sovereign wealth fund to help repay $3.8 billion in bonds owed by state-linked firms which mature next year, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The Gulf Arab emirate has clawed its way back from the depths of its debt crisis, helped by an economic revival in trade and tourism and its safe-haven status amid the Arab Spring revolts, but still faces the challenge of big debt repayments.

The source said discussions in government circles focus on $3.8 billion in bonds due next year from a trio of state-linked firms which are seen as having the highest refinancing risk — Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), part of the ruler’s private holding company, DIFC Investments (DIFCI) and Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza).

The Investment Corporation of Dubai, the emirate’s sovereign wealth arm, which is run by a key figure tasked with resolving Dubai’s debt mess, may be involved.

“All options are still on the table for the bonds. Could be refinanced, could be paid back by ICD partially,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “ICD would use funds that it raised (recently).”

“It has raised $1.5 billion in bilateral loans and is aiming for $2 billion, it’s mostly from local banks.”

ICD holds about $70 billion in assets and its financial position is bolstered by dividend payouts from its portfolio of companies. Its investments include successful airline Emirates EMIRA.UL, bank Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU: Quote, Profile, Research) and Dubai Islamic Bank DISB.DU.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Investors fear a big push by Mideast states to boost jobs for citizens, especially in the Gulf which has national quota programs and where higher salaries are demanded, will push up costs for businesses in the region.

A slew of state moves in recent months, accelerated by regional unrest partly rooted in a lack of job opportunities, has seen Gulf states raise salaries for citizens and attempt to reduce their expatriate workforce.

“All these different HR-related issues are relevant (as investment risk) because they obviously have a political parameter to them now,” said Mohieddine Kronfol, chief investment officer for Middle East and North Africa fixed income and global sukuk at Franklin Templeton Investments.

Executives at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit said concerns are growing about finding qualified local talent — at salaries they can justify — and the cost of job creation measures on economic growth.

As public sector jobs dwindle and more fresh graduates appear on the scene, Gulf Arab states are increasingly looking to private sector employment.

Saudi Arabia, with its burgeoning youth population, is keen to get its youth working and has stepped up inspections to enforce an updated quota system in the kingdom where nationals make up just 10 percent of private sector employees.

Private sector firms who fail to comply face penalties, including a limit on foreign worker visas.

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Certain Abu Dhabi entities are looking at snapping up regional competitors but tough credit markets and global uncertainty will slow any M&A activity, a top executive at independent investment bank Moelis & Co. said.

Augusto Sasso, co-head of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) investment banking, said Abu Dhabi clients were “actively looking” at acquisitions with the focus firmly on the MENA area.

“For the most part, the M&A activity that we’re involved in is mainly inter-regional,” he said at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

“It’s not international acquisitions, it’s buying companies that are in similar markets. It’s more localized than it has ever been.”

Sasso said any deal depends on how quickly access to capital markets recovers, and transactions may not transpire for a year.

Among sectors ripe for M&A in general, the banker expects the industrial sector to lead deal flow in the region and sees aerospace, metals and mining, chemical firms and real estate as the sub-sectors to potentially drive activity.

“Right now it’s very tough to do an acquisition unless it’s a stock-based acquisition. We appreciate some of the things we’re doing now are probably early phase.”

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Dubai has several options to handle its upcoming debt maturities and refinancing requirements, mainly thanks to reviving economic growth and stable income streams, a senior executive at Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday.

“There are many options to handle upcoming debt maturities. When you have assets and/or the right level of income, you can solve them with the right amount of creativity,” Salman Al Khalifa, global markets head for MENA and country head for the United Arab Emirates, told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

Dubai has been in the spotlight over its debt woes since late 2009, as it has struggled to rebuild investor confidence after state-owned Dubai World DBWLD.UL announced a $26 billion restructuring.

The emirate’s government-related entities (GREs) can pay down or refinance nearly $14 billon in debt maturing next year with relative ease, J.P. Morgan said in a research note earlier in the month.

Economic zone Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) and Dubai International Financial Center Investments (DIFCI) have $1.25 billion and $2 billion respectively in debts maturing next year.

“In general when you look at the refinancings, you have to look at the overall picture,” Al Khalifa said.

“For example, the economic activity in Dubai has been very solid and continues to grow. That activity is one of the big drivers of government income, which in turn is a major source of dealing with any potential issues as they arise.”

DUBAI (Reuters) – Investors are cautious about the ability of some of Dubai’s government-related entities to refinance their debt piles even as the emirate works to restore confidence in its financial health, a managing director at Moody’s said on Monday.

While economic zone Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) and Dubai International Financial Centre Investments (DIFCI) have been chipping away at their $1.25 billion and $2 billion debts maturing next year, there is still a lack of clarity as to how the firms will refinance, said David Staples, managing director of EMEA corporate finance at the ratings agency.

“There’s a question mark in the eyes of investors as to how they’re going to do that. Dubai should be seen as supportive and Dubai is assumed to be supportive,” he said, speaking at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

“Investors get concerned that Dubai’s willingness to support may not translate into capacity,” he added, referring to the emirate’s ability to fund the shortfall.

A report earlier this month by investment bank J.P. Morgan said Dubai’s government-related entities (GREs) can pay down or refinance nearly $14 billon in debt maturing next year with relative ease.

Ratings for JAFZA and DIFCI — part of the conglomerate of companies known as Dubai Inc. — still reflect a low risk of default, at B2 and B3 respectively.

Staples said if the companies addressed their refinancing needs, their ratings could improve.

MUSCAT (Reuters) – This month’s election in Oman may give the small Gulf sultanate a glossier democratic veneer, but it is unlikely to bury the discontent exposed by protests in February inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said, an absolute ruler who deposed his father in 1970, responded to the unrest, in which five people were killed in the main industrial city of Sohar, with promises of reform and handouts.

These have helped to calm the streets, although protests demanding the release of prisoners simmered into September, and Oman’s three million people remain mostly loyal to the sultan.

Yet many fret at the absence of real political change in a southeastern Arabian country strategically located at the entrance to the Gulf that fails to generate enough jobs to meet the demands of a small but rapidly growing population.

Sultan Qaboos, 70, has won credit for using Oman’s limited oil revenue on social and economic infrastructure, but he has yet to offer Omanis a roadmap to genuine popular representation.

“The bottom line is that the election may not change anything at all,” said Abdullah Alabri, a 26-year-old Oman Air pilot. “It’s just a way of gaining a good image and making people feel a sense of democracy whereas, in reality, after the election we would not attain anything significant.”

Ostensibly, the October 15 vote for the 84-member Shura council should matter this time. Candidates elected to the advisory body will become part of the Oman Council, along with an appointed upper house. The council for the first time is to be given some legislative and regulatory powers.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Indian laborer Athiraman Kannan kept to his routine in the hours before he jumped off the world’s tallest building.

Three weeks ago, he arrived at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa at 7 a.m., clocked in and headed to where he was working on the upper reaches of the 163-storey tower. About an hour later, the 38-year-old father of one flung himself off the Burj Khalifa’s 147th floor, dying instantly when he hit the 108th floor.

“I spoke to him the night before and he seemed fine,” said another Indian worker, a friend and former roommate who had known him for seven years. “I still can’t believe he did this.”

Kannan’s leap off the Burj Khalifa was the 26th known suicide by an Indian worker in the country in 2011. Last year, 113 Indians committed suicide, roughly one every three days.

The deaths have focused fresh attention to the plight of migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates where armies of overall-clad laborers swarm over construction sites, seldom noticed by those in the plush office blocks and shopping malls.

Many laborers are paid less than 1,000 dirhams ($270) a month and are typically saddled with large debts.

Workers complain of unpaid wages, excessive working hours, high recruitment fees, isolation and employers holding their passports to restrict their movement.