As-Safir eyes more investors

Syrian-American businessman buys 20 percent stake; 29 percent more still for sale

The publisher and editor-in-chief of As-Safir newspaper, Talal Salman, confirmed that he had sold a 20 percent stake in the newspaper to Syrian-American businessman Jamal Daniel. He also announced that a 29 percent share of the newspaper is still on the market.
“Jamal Daniel is our first partner, and we hope he wouldn’t be our last,” Salman said in a news conference on Tuesday (September 20).

Daniel is President of Crest Investment Company in Houston, Texas. He has a long record in managing investments in oil and gas, manufacturing, and real estate.

Daniel is member of the International Advisory Board of the American University of Beirut, and an honorary member of the Board of Trustees of Balamand University.

As-Safir’s General Director, Yasser Nehme, said that ‘Levant Media’, a company owned by Daniel and managed by journalist Clovis Maksoud, will engage in a venture with As-Safir. “This will happen with other (potential) partners as well,” he said.

Nehme also said that there have recently been attempts to revive talks with a number of businessmen who were considered as potential investors in the newspaper back in 2003.