DP World debt outweighs Dubai World assets

DP World debt outweighs Dubai World assets    Investment bank J.P. Morgan said this week that the assets of the beleaguered state-owned entity Dubai World are worth less than half of its remaining debts, with much of that value tied to its terminal operating business, according to a report Thursday by Bloomberg.
   Dubai World is seeking to restructure nearly $25 billion in debts, but its assets have been valued at $11 billion by J.P. Morgan. Of those assets, the company's container terminal operating arm DP World is valued at $7.1 billion, JPMorgan Chase analyst Zafar Nazim wrote in a research report.
   The holding company owns an 80 percent stake in DP World, but may have to shed some of that stake, with Nazim estimating that Dubai World would maintain at least a 50 percent stake in DP World, one of the few attractive assets in its portfolio.
   Dubai World announced last fall that it was seeking to restructure $50 billion in debt. Dubai World said last week it has arranged a new debt repayment structure for 99 percent of its remaining $25 billion in debt. All of the company's assets were listed for sale as part of the restructuring, the Bloomberg report said.