Two Dubai-based investment firms have acquired a stake in Empire Aviation Group, which has exclusive rights to sell Hawker Beechcraft business jets in a number of Gulf and Asian markets.

Dubai firms buy into Empire Aviationand Zabeel Investments did not say how much they paid for the 'strategic stake' in an emailed statement.

Empire was founded this year in the UAE to help develop the regional market for business aviation services, now accounting for only 2 percent of the global private jet market, Empire said in a statement.

Empire signed an agreement with aircraft manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft at the Paris Airshow this year, allowing it to sell its Beechcraft and Hawker jets in the Gulf Arab region and Pakistan, with some exclusive rights, it said.

Hawker Beechcraft Corp is owned by Canada's Onex Partners and GS Capital Partners, who bought the business from Raytheon Co in a deal that closed this year.

Zabeel, a real estate development and private equity firm founded in Dubai in 2006, was part of Dubai's purchase of a 3.12 percent stake in Airbus parent EADS in July.

DIFC Investments, part owner of the Dubai company that has agreed to buy Nordic exchange operator OMX with Nasdaq, bought into Deutsche Bank AG this year. - Reuters