'Good' Gulf money flies to the rescue

While regulators threaten to tighten the criteria for sovereign wealth funds investing in European assets, pissing off Gulf funds in the process, private business is doing what it does best: privately going about its business. Business-class airline Silverjet has found a Middle East investor to inject a live-saving $25 million into the loss-making carrier. When creditors come calling, needs must.

European politicians are concerned about Gulf funds’ motives. European businessmen don’t seem to mind, particularly if the money helps an innovative new business through a tricky stage of its development. In a tough airline market, Silverjet, the last-remaining business-only airline following the recent collapses of Eos and Maxjet, flies from London to just two destinations: New York and Dubai. The new money should help it open new routes into India, South Africa and the US, and better its chances of survival.

Time will tell whether Silverjet’s business model works, but it would surely be doomed to failure without the injection of this Gulf money. As European economies slow, and their new business ventures find it harder to secure credit, Gulf funds, willing to back innovation, might come to be seen more favorably.