Emaar cancels Dubai Holding merger as debt woes persist

"The board of directors has decided not to go ahead with the plan to merge the company with Dubai Holding, which was announced a few months ago," a brief statement said.

"Studies have proven that the plan to merge is economically unfeasible at the moment," added the statement, without mentioning the reasons.
The statement was released a few hours after the Dubai stock market closed down once again. The decline was led by Emaar, whose shares tumbled by almost the maximum-allowed 10 percent.

The decision by Emaar, developer of Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, appears to reflect ebbing investor confidence in the debt-ridden emirate.Talks had been ongoing to link Emaar and three Dubai Holding property units -- Dubai Properties, Sama Dubai and Tatweer.

Emaar said in June it was expecting the move to be completed in about four months, boasting that the new entity would be 'one of the largest real estate developers worldwide.'

Tatweer is in charge of developing Dubailand, which was expected to be the Middle East's equivalent of Disney World, near Orlando, Florida.