IN AN EXPECTED development in the outstanding dispute between the two partners in Emaar Misr -- ARTOC Group and the UAE-based Emaar Properties -- the Egyptian company said Tuesday it was pulling out of the joint venture. The value of ARTOC's 60 per cent stake is estimated at $162.5 million. The conditions of the final agreement were still being negotiated by the quarrelling partners when Al-Ahram Weekly went to press. A statement released by ARTOC on Tuesday evening read: "ARTOC wishes to conclude its relationship with Emaar Dubai since there is no shared vision or strategy." The statement, released after a meeting of ARTOC's board of directors, added that the decision came in accordance with a framework agreement signed between the two parties on 12 March. According to the Egyptian partner, while it has fulfilled all its commitments in the agreement Emaar Properties has not. An ARTOC official explained that the company has deposited its stake in Emaar Misr in the Arab African International Bank as agreed. However, by Tuesday evening Emaar Properties had not yet deposited the value of its shares in the bank. ARTOC Group's withdrawal was announced one day after the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) refused to list Emaar Misr shares on any of its official schedules. The move implies that ARTOC will have to pay 20 per cent taxes on the capital gains it is making from the deal. CASE's listing committee said Emaar Misr did not meet the needed requirements, namely submitting the results of one whole year with at least one per cent of its profits resulting from core activities. Emaar Misr responded by insisting that it submitted one full year's financials, with more than one per cent of profits emerging from the sale of several units in the company's Uptown Cairo project in the Moqqatam Hills. Tuesday's statement noted that the CASE committee's refusal is unjustified, since the size of Emaar Misr's completed construction and concluded sales are both public knowledge. ARTOC said it will resort to the Capital Market Authority to decide on the listing. What makes matters worse for ARTOC is that Emaar Dubai has refused to shoulder any of Emaar Misr's tax burden, a previously agreed upon clause in the framework deal. Nonetheless, ARTOC's board of directors assured that the group is committed to pay any dues to the government. The Ministry of Investment has the right to intervene by any means to guarantee the rights of those who bought units in Emaar Misr projects, according to a ministry official. Withdrawing the land, the official stated, is one option. Meanwhile, a senior delegation from Emaar Properties headed by the company's head Mohamed El-Abbar met Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali on Tuesday to discuss new Emaar Misr investments in Egypt.
