Al Habtoor Group chairman Khalaf Al Habtoor and Steve Scharzman, the chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, recently discussed investment opportunities at a meeting in Dubai.

Scharzman is a billionaire private equity financer and former investment banker. He co-founded the Blackstone Group in 1985 and was listed amongst Time Magazine's ‘100 Most Influential People in The World’ in 2007.

The Blackstone Group is the world’s largest independent alternative asset management company. Based in the US, it offers investment advice and management services at international level. The company’s total assets under management were valued at $166.2 billion (Dhs610.48 billion) last year.

“The meeting went very well,” said Al Habtoor afterwards. “Mr Schwarzman is a most interesting man and I think we may well do business together in the future.”

One of the UAE’s most respected and successful businesses, the Al Habtoor Group operates in the UAE and international markets in sectors such as construction, hotel, automotive, real estate, education, insurance and publishing. – TradeArabia News Service