It’s no secret that Dubai’s indebted state-owned firms, part of an amalgam of local companies collectively known as Dubai Inc, have been mulling the sale of numerous investments since striking debt repayment deals with their creditors.

But against a wobbly economic backdrop, the value of most of these assets held by the likes of Dubai World and Dubai Group has plunged dramatically. After all, many were acquired at the top of the market in the mid-2000s when the emirate was engaged in a global, credit-fuelled shopping spree.