Kuwait Investment Office

The Kuwaiti government's investment arm today made its first known sale of a Kuwaiti holding since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2. The sale was "purely an investment decision" and was not aimed at raising cash, said a spokeswoman for the London-based Kuwait Investment Office. The investment office sold a 10.1% stake in Mount Charlotte Investments PLC to a company controlled by New Zealand financier Ron Brierley, Brierley's company said. The sale is worth $121 million.

The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., the most luxurious and spectacular of Lincoln Savings & Loan's holdings and a symbol of the industry's extravagance, has been sold to Kuwait at a loss. The Kuwaiti Investment Office--which already has a 45% stake in the company that owns the Phoenician and the Crescent Hotel in Phoenix--bought out the remaining interest from the Resolution Trust Corp. for $111.5 million. The federal agency is liquidating the Irvine thrift, which failed in April, 1989.

The closest thing to home these days is makeshift digs in a drab bank building in central London, 150 Cheapside EC2. A sentry stands guard at the door, walkie-talkie in hand. The nondescript structure houses the Kuwait Investment Office, where the financial strategies of an invaded nation are carried out behind locked doors. Shrouded in secrecy, swirling with rumors, the Kuwaiti economy in exile operates without the oil that has been its lifeblood for decades.

Britain's government ordered the Kuwait Investment Office today to slash its 21.68% stake in British Petroleum Co. PLC by more than half. It said the holding could conflict with the public interest and gave the Kuwaiti concern a year to reduce its stake to no more than 9.9%. The reduction is likely to result in a huge loss for the London-based investment arm of the Kuwaiti government, which said it is "extremely dissatisfied" with the decision.

The Kuwaiti government's investment arm on Monday made its first known sale of a Kuwaiti holding since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2. The sale was "purely an investment decision" and wasn't aimed at raising cash, said a spokeswoman for the London-based investment arm, the Kuwait Investment Office. She wasn't identified, in accordance with British practice. The investment office sold a 10.1% stake in Mount Charlotte Investments PLC to a company controlled by New Zealand financier Ronald A.

The Kuwaiti government's investment arm on Monday made its first known sale of a Kuwaiti holding since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2. The sale was "purely an investment decision" and wasn't aimed at raising cash, said a spokeswoman for the London-based investment arm, the Kuwait Investment Office. She wasn't identified, in accordance with British practice. The investment office sold a 10.1% stake in Mount Charlotte Investments PLC to a company controlled by New Zealand financier Ronald A.

The Kuwaiti government's investment arm today made its first known sale of a Kuwaiti holding since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2. The sale was "purely an investment decision" and was not aimed at raising cash, said a spokeswoman for the London-based Kuwait Investment Office. The investment office sold a 10.1% stake in Mount Charlotte Investments PLC to a company controlled by New Zealand financier Ron Brierley, Brierley's company said. The sale is worth $121 million.

Former Treasury Secretary G. William Miller has described the Kuwaiti government, which has invested as much as $40 billion in the United States, as a "prudent" investor that is interested in long-term gains. Miller said the kingdom's estimated $80 billion in worldwide investments stemmed from a decision to invest some of its oil profits in "what they call a fund for future generations . . . a quasi-trust fund. If the oil runs out, people will still have the benefits. . . .

The highly secretive Kuwaiti government has extensive holdings throughout the world and in the United States--an estimated $80 billion in assets ranging from junk bonds and bank deposits to resort hotels and gas stations. On Thursday, the Bush Administration moved to freeze those holdings in an effort to protect them from the invading Iraqis. But that action raised more problems than it resolved.

Federal regulators Thursday ousted Lincoln Savings & Loan owner Charles H. Keating Jr. and more than two dozen of his associates from management of two troubled Arizona hotels partly owned by the failed Irvine thrift. More than 60 regulators, lawyers, federal marshals and locksmiths walked into the posh Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale and the Crescent Hotel in downtown Phoenix at 1:30 a.m. to seize control of the lodges.

Federal regulators Thursday ousted Lincoln Savings & Loan owner Charles H. Keating Jr. and more than two dozen of his associates from management of two troubled Arizona hotels partly owned by the failed Irvine thrift. More than 60 regulators, lawyers, federal marshals and locksmiths walked into the posh Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale and the Crescent Hotel in downtown Phoenix at 1:30 a.m. to seize control of the hotels. Regulators seized Lincoln April 14, a day after its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection.

Former Treasury Secretary G. William Miller has described the Kuwaiti government, which has invested as much as $40 billion in the United States, as a "prudent" investor that is interested in long-term gains. Miller said the kingdom's estimated $80 billion in worldwide investments stemmed from a decision to invest some of its oil profits in "what they call a fund for future generations . . . a quasi-trust fund. If the oil runs out, people will still have the benefits. . . .

The closest thing to home these days is makeshift digs in a drab bank building in central London, 150 Cheapside EC2. A sentry stands guard at the door, walkie-talkie in hand. The nondescript structure houses the Kuwait Investment Office, where the financial strategies of an invaded nation are carried out behind locked doors. Shrouded in secrecy, swirling with rumors, the Kuwaiti economy in exile operates without the oil that has been its lifeblood for decades.