Headlines

Dubai-based construction giant Arabtec has confirmed that it has hired New York-based investment bank Moelis & Co to advise on a new restructuring plan, Arabian Business reported. The company, which last year embarked on a three-phase roadmap to stabilise and prepare the business for growth, said one of the strategic objectives for 2018, Prepare, is to continue to strengthen its balance sheet, including the refinancing of debt to provide a sustainable platform for continued growth.

The government will not rescue universities that are struggling financially, the higher education regulator warned on Tuesday. Michael Barber, chair of the Office for Students, told delegates at the Wonkfest higher education conference that the regulator would assess financial sustainability and good governance, but its role was to “protect student interests”, not “bail out providers in financial difficulty,” the Financial Times reported.

Italian business executives are sounding the alarm. The composite purchasing managers’ index that tracks both services and manufacturing sectors in the Italian economy fell to 49.3 in October, the lowest reading since November 2013 and below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction, the Financial Times reported. Data published last week had already pointed to the first contraction in the manufacturing sector since 2016. But on Tuesday, fresh data showed the services sector had followed suit, dragging the composite indicator with it.

Norwegian drillship and rig operator Fred. Olsen Energy, proposes to sell one of its drilling units and to issue $130-140 million in new equity to pay off debt, as part of a refinancing plan published on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The proposal includes issuing about $90 million in new loan capital, paying $580 million to settle outstanding secured debt, and converting bond debt into equity. Existing shares of the company will represent approximately one percent of the share capital after the restructuring.

Investors in a Schroders Plc real estate fund that owns some of London’s priciest offices are seeking to withdraw almost one-fifth of the 836 million pounds ($1.09 billion) pool as Brexit-related worries have mounted, people with knowledge of the matter said. Some 150 million pounds in redemption requests at the West End of London Property Unit Trust have prompted restructuring talks that could result in a sale of the fund or a change of manager, among other options, said the people, asking not to be identified as the negotiations are private, Bloomberg News reported.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, one of the world’s largest traders of shipping fuel, has filed for bankruptcy protection in New York, allowing the company to undergo a restructuring with the help of rival trader Mercuria as a precursor to putting itself up for sale, the Financial Times reported. The move into Chapter 11 follows the confirmation last week of a write-off of $200m of expected payments that Aegean said “lacked economic substance”, adding that another $100m may have been “misappropriated through fraudulent activities”.

The southern African nation has agreed in principle with holders of 60 percent of its bonds, including New York-based hedge fund Greylock Capital Management LLC, a deal that will see them swap into a new $900 million Eurobond maturing in 2033 and another instrument linked to future gas revenues, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. This “looks like an important first step out of its long-running debt saga,” said William Jackson, chief emerging-market economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London.

A rescue plan drawn up by Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance would allow construction and real estate companies to offload unsold stock while channeling most proceeds toward repaying the country’s wobbly banks, Bloomberg News reported. Two associations of Turkish builders, known as Inder and Gyoder, have asked members to present an inventory of unsold real estate to a government-backed property investment trust Emlak Konut.

Europe’s top banks may have survived a milestone test of their resilience but strengthened balance sheets count for little when they generate such meager returns compared with U.S. rivals, investors say. The European Banking Authority stress test results on Friday showed the sector in reasonable financial health, with a clean sweep of 48 lenders judged capable of withstanding economic shocks like a crash in real estate or bond prices, Reuters reported.

Dubai Holding LLC, the investment firm owned by the emirate’s ruler, agreed to acquire a minority stake in the operator of Zara clothing and Virgin Megastore chains in the Middle East, according to people with the matter. The stake purchase in Beirut-based Azadea Group values the business at more than $1 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private, Bloomberg News reported. The two parties reached an initial agreement on the transaction last week, the people said.