North Africa/Middle East

Dubai-based real estate agency S&K Estate Agents said a deteriorating property market in the emirate contributed to its decision to file for bankruptcy and be liquidated, Reuters reported. "Simply put, the revenue being generated by the business drastically reduced over the first half of 2015, without enough income to cover operational costs," S&K said in an emailed statement released through a public relations firm. The company said its reputation had suffered from client complaints and a recruitment drive did not yield results quickly enough to save the business.

Drydocks World has called in the American financial group Citibank to help it refinance its US$2.3 billion of debt, The National reported. DDW, under the chairmanship of Abdulrahman Al Saleh, the director general of the Dubai Department of Finance, has hired the restructuring advisers at Citi’s Middle East unit, which is based in the emirate, to seek a better deal from its creditors. The marine engineering group, part of the Dubai World conglomerate, sealed a deal in 2012 to push back maturities on $2.3bn in two tranches.

The long-awaited new insolvency law has taken a big step towards becoming a reality after being approved by the Cabinet, The National reported. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said on his website that the proposed draft law includes flexible strategies to bail out businesses that have encountered financial troubles that might lead to bankruptcy. “The draft law aims to regulate accumulated debts, eases restructuring of companies as well as support troubled businesses,” he said.

Bank creditors to Drydocks World (DDW), Dubai’s maritime engineering business, are expecting to receive proposals from the government-owned company to restructure some of the US$2.3 billion debt it refinanced in 2012, The National reported. Recent talks with creditors have left them convinced that the company, owned by the Dubai World conglomerate, will seek to change the terms of its agreement to repay some $800 million of bank loans in the summer of 2017.

Saudi Arabian family conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) is offering creditors a minimum return of 28 cents on every dollar owed under an enhanced proposal to end one of the Middle East's largest ever debt restructurings. The group with interests in hospitality, food and real estate among others, collapsed in 2009 along with Saad Group, a separate Saudi business empire led by Maan al-Sanea. Since then, the two have been battling over who was to blame for the issues affecting their conglomerates.

An Iranian-owned bank based in Bahrain has appealed a decision by local authorities to place it in administration, in a case showing the vulnerability of Iran's business interests in the Gulf as political tensions rise, Reuters reported. In a letter to the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the chairman of Future Bank, Abdolnaser Hemmati, said his company had fully complied with regulatory requirements and saw no reason to be treated as a risk to the banking system.

Bahrain's central bank said on Thursday it had placed two Iran-linked companies, Future Bank and Iran Insurance Co, into administration to protect the rights of depositors and policyholders, Reuters reported. In a brief statement, the central bank did not elaborate on why it took the action or give any information about the two companies. It said it wished "to reassure both the local and international financial community that this measure is an isolated incident and will not impact any other bank or insurance company in the kingdom.

Saudi Cable Company has signed a deal with three of its main lenders to restructure SR640 million ($170.7 million) of debt, it said in a statement, Arab News reported. The debt will be restructured over a period not exceeding eight years, it said without naming the lenders or giving other details of the restructuring. The company maintains “normal operational relationships” with one of its lenders, from which it has borrowed SR112.9 million, although it has not complied with covenants on those loans, Saudi Cable added.

Liquidators for ES Bankers (Dubai) Ltd (ESBD) have estimated they will pay out 82.7 percent of the $93.5 million owed to depositors in the stricken bank, advisory firm Deloitte said on its website, Reuters reported. However, unsecured creditors of the Dubai arm of the Espirito Santo empire, which stumbled after accounting irregularities were identified at one of its holding companies earlier last year, will get none of the $14 million they are owed, the document added.

At the start of a new year, the UAE’s lawyers, bankers, small business owners and, indeed, government officials, are still waiting for the country’s new insolvency bus – sorry, law –to arrive. But the signs are that after many years of standing at the bus stop and waiting, the legislation is getting closer to becoming a reality, The National reported in a commentary.