The board of directors of the Dubai-based Al Habtoor Group has officially green-lit the entire liquidation and divestiture of its corporate assets and investments in Lebanon. This aggressive business move signals an end to the conglomerate’s decades-old presence in the Levantine country, directing funds away from an economy ravaged by a dire financial collapse.
The far-reaching divestiture policy covers a wide array of assets, including luxury hotels, commercial real estate, residential real estate developments, and vast parcels of land. It has been made known that assets will be separately assessed, and future transactions will be guided purely by market realities. While the ultimate cumulative financial worth of the properties slated for sale has not been publicly disclosed, the corporate apparatus stressed that the measure aligns with a wider effort to safeguard stakeholder interests.
This complete pullout serves as the ultimate culmination of an ongoing corporate retreat. Earlier in January, executive management officially declared an immediate halt to all functional and commercial activities within the country. That operational paralysis was precipitated by biting financial restrictions imposed by Lebanon’s central bank, which effectively froze capital deposits and blocked access to millions of dollars. In response to the frozen funds and mounting corporate damages—estimated to exceed $1.7 billion—the enterprise turned to international legal channels, retaining a prominent global law firm to launch high-stakes arbitration proceedings against the state under the bilateral investment treaty linking the UAE and Lebanon.
Having built its presence in the country since the late 1990s through heavy investments in tourism and infrastructure, the prominent Emirati business house noted that the choice reflects a deliberate pivot toward stable economic zones. Executives emphasized that future capital deployment will concentrate on international markets that promise predictable regulatory frameworks, lower systemic risk, and sustainable long-term growth.
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