April 15, 2008

Dubai Group invests US$50 million in Malaysian biodiesel stake

Dubai Group recently announced it has paid US$49.5 million for a 30-percent share in Malaysian biodiesel firm GBD Investment, as it taps the booming market for alternative fuels.

GBD's plant in Sabah state on Borneo island has a capacity of 200,000 tonnes a year, which will be increased to 500,000 tonnes when the second phase of its construction is completed, Dubai Group said.

The plant can use palm oil and jatropha as feedstock and would produce biodiesel and pharma-grade glycerine for global markets, it said.

South Korea's ECO Solutions Co. holds the remaining stake in GBD.

Dubai Group is the latest in a string of Gulf investors who have piled into Malaysian assets, lured by the Southeast Asian country's healthy economy, booming commodities sector and fast-growing Islamic finance industry.