DUBAI: Dubai International Capital (DIC) should complete the sale of the two main assets remaining in its portfolio within 18 months, which will provide it with cash to cover its outstanding debt well ahead of scheduled repayment in two years.

Proceeds from the divestment of the five remaining assets should also give the private equity firm surplus funds to pass to its parent firm, Dubai Holding, to help finance its ambitious projects in the emirate, chief executive David Smoot said.

Part of the investment vehicle of Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, DIC rose to prominence in the mid-2000s as it took stakes in global brands including Daimler and Sony, and at one point was heavily linked with a takeover of one of England's biggest soccer clubs, Liverpool FC.

However, like many state-linked entities in the Dubai stable, DIC fell prone to overexuberance and the heavy debt load taken on to finance many of its deals, forcing it into a $2.5 billion restructuring which it completed in April 2012.

Since then, DIC has been selling down its entire portfolio of assets to service its debt, most recently offloading German packaging company Mauser for a total consideration of 1.25 billion euros ($1.72 billion).

With around $1 billion of net debt remaining, which excludes cash it has on its balance sheet, the sales of Doncasters, a British-based engineering aerospace group, and German alumina products maker Almatis will give it the funds to comfortably meet its repayment schedule, Smoot told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

"We have a bullet repayment that's due Dec. 31, 2016. We'll finish our task well inside of that deadline."