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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (361501)	12/5/2007 10:10:53 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574489

You will see more and more of this with $90 a barrel oil. Just think, when you are buying a gallon of gas a few cents are going into a fund for ME countries to buy US companies! It's a simple wealth transfer... they have the resources that we squander everyday. Middle East firm acquires PODS The Clearwater storage company was sold for $443-million. By MADHUSMITA BORA, Times Staff Writer Published December 5, 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Bahrain-based company is the new owner of Clearwater's PODS Enterprises Inc. Arcapita Inc., stakeholders in Caribou Coffee and Church's Chicken, is the U.S. arm of Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank. The Middle East firm makes investments that comply with Islamic law, known as Shari'ah. Arcapita, which also has offices in London, Singapore and Atlanta, didn't return calls. PODS has repeatedly declined to speak about the deal. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission granted the storage container company an early clearance on antitrust concerns. TheDeal.com, an online resource for corporate and financial dealmakers, said PODS Acquisition Holding acquired PODS Inc. for $443-million on Nov. 14. In a Nov. 6 filing with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations, PODS Acquisition Corp. listed Arcapita's Atlanta office as its principal address. The four company officers listed are part of Arcapita's corporate investment team. "They are a premier private-equity firm that has an excellent reputation, and it's no secret that a lot of their capital comes from Bahrain," said John McDonald, senior managing director at Tampa-based Hyde Park Capital Partners LLC. Formerly known as First Islamic Investment Bank, the company has a diverse portfolio of investments. Arcapita joined the Florida Venture Forum less than a year ago, said Robin Kovaleski, spokeswoman for the forum. "They have raised a lot of money and they have indicated to us that they would deploy some of that in Florida," Kovaleski said. A 2006 story by TheDeal.com said Arcapita represents an emerging class of Middle Eastern investor seeking to diversify out of the region into Western infrastructure-type assets. The company, founded about a decade ago, targets European and U.S. investments. Arcapita typically buys an asset and then offers equity stakes to Middle Eastern institutions and wealthy individuals, TheDeal.com said. Among those on Arcapita's advisory board are Georgia's former Sen. Wyche Fowler Jr. and Glenn Hubbard, who chaired President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers from 2001 to 2003. What makes Arcapita's strategy interesting is its devotion to the Shari'ah. The Islamic law bars the company from investing in financial firms that offer credit or charge interest, or companies associated with pornography, gambling, pork or alcohol. Fried chicken and storage units are okay. All of Arcapita's investments need the approval of a Shari'ah board. The four-member body includes Islamic religious scholars and a retired judge from Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court. Staff researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Madhusmita Bora can be reached at mbora@sptimes.com or (813) 225-3112.