North Africa/Middle East

One of Noble Group’s largest shareholders is suing the troubled commodity trader in a last-ditch bid to stop its chairman pushing through a controversial restructuring, the Financial Times reported. Abu Dhabi-based Goldilocks Investment, which took a 8.1 per cent stake in the company last year, said on Wednesday it had filed two lawsuits in Singapore to block Noble from progressing the restructuring — which would see existing shareholders retain just 15 per cent of the company — as well as seeking an injunction against its April 30 annual general meeting.

On Sunday, a Tel Aviv district court judge ordered the liquidation of Eurocom Communications Ltd., the communication arm of Israel-based Eurocom Group, and ordered its real estate arm into receivership, CTech reported. Eurocom's most attractive asset is Bezeq, Israel's biggest telecommunication provider and a monopoly in the country, which it holds through subsidiaries. Attempts to sell Eurocom were stymied due to shareholders opposition in Bezeq. The directives will take effect on May 3rd. The judge did not approve Eurocom's creditor arrangements.

Two Saudi Arabian-linked banks have become the first lenders with ties to the kingdom to sign a debt settlement plan with Ahmad Hamad al-Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB), the company's chief executive said, opening the way for the conglomerate to try to push through a multibillion-dollar deal with creditors, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Israel's main labor federation intends to take labor or legal action against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries if the drugmaker does not suspend a decision to close a plant in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, it said on Sunday. Debt-laden Teva, the world's largest generic drugmaker and Israel's biggest company, said last week that it would close the unprofitable plant in March 2019 after failing to find a buyer for the facility, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Senior scholars in Islamic finance are exploring ways to prevent legal disputes that have roiled the industry, with new rules aiming to clarify responsibilities, while others raise the prospect of penalties for their peers, Reuters reported. The discussions are part of the annual sharia conference of the Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), one of the industry’s top standard-setting bodies.

United Arab Emirates energy firm Dana Gas said on Sunday it had received a new injunction from the English High Court restricting its ability to pay dividends or increase its debt, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The injunction is the latest salvo in a complex legal battle in the UAE and Britain which began last year when Dana halted payments on its $700 million of Islamic bonds, arguing the sukuk had become unlawful because of changes in Islamic finance. Since then, sukuk holders have been trying to force the company to redeem the sukuk.

Lebanon hopes to secure billions of dollars for infrastructure this week at an international donor conference in Paris, as it grapples with low growth and soaring debt, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Some 50 countries and international organizations are expected at the CEDRE (Cedar) conference that begins Friday, where Beirut will request up to $22 billion for an eight to 12 year investment program.

Gulf General Investment Company (GGICO) is in talks with lenders to restructure loan and credit facilities after defaulting on a payment linked to 2.15 billion dirhams ($585.5 million) of debt at the end of last year, the Sharjah-based firm said on Sunday. The company, which has investments spanning financial services, property, hospitality, manufacturing and retailing, previously restructured its debt in September 2017 and before that in July 2012, Reuters reported. It said in December 2017 it defaulted on a principal payment of 24.4 million dirhams related to the restructured debt.

A troubled Luxembourg brokerage has sought outside help to fulfil a crucial role in the restructuring of $1.2bn of structured bonds backed by defaulted airlines such as Air Berlin and Alitalia, the Financial Times reported. The fate of the $1.2bn of debt at two special-purpose vehicles tied to Etihad has been in the balance since last summer, after the collapse of Italian airline Alitalia and Germany’s Air Berlin. The Abu Dhabi carrier had snapped up stakes in the two airlines as part of an ill-fated push into Europe.

Bank creditors of detained Saudi Arabian tycoon, Maan al-Sanea, have asked his advisers for more details on a proposed settlement covering 16 billion riyals ($4.3 billion) in claims before they agree to move forward with the process, sources close to the matter said. Banks met in Dubai on Wednesday as they seek to resolve the debt crisis that has rumbled on since al-Sanea’s company Saad Group defaulted on its debt in 2009, Reuters reported.