Saudi Arabia

A Geneva prosecutor has closed a six-year investigation into a criminal complaint by Saudi Arabia's Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) against Maan al-Sanea and two units of his Saad Group, the prosecutor's office told Reuters. Family conglomerate AHAB and separate Saudi business empire Saad Group collapsed in 2009 and have since been battling in multiple jurisdictions over who was to blame for the issues which affected their respective groups, including the default on bank debts worth billions of dollars.

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.

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.

Saudi contractor Mohammad Al-Mojil Group's (MMG) board had approved a recovery plan that use most of its existing capital base to pay off debts and new cash raised through a share issue, it said on Sunday, Reuters reported. The firm, which got into difficulty after over-extending itself trying to take advantage of a boom in construction in the kingdom, has not traded on the Saudi bourse since July 2012, when its shares were suspended by the regulator after breaching rules relating to accumulated losses. MMG said in September its accumulated losses for the period ending Aug.

A steering committee of creditors of Saudi Arabian conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) has been formed to negotiate its debt restructuring, Algosaibi said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The family group, which collapsed in 2009 during the global financial crisis, said in May this year that it had direct liabilities to financial institutions worth around $6 billion, and proposed a restructuring plan that would repay creditors a minimum of 20 cents on the dollar.

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers, a Saudi family-owned conglomerate that defaulted on its debts near the beginning of the financial crisis in 2009, met with creditors in Dubai on Wednesday to propose a new settlement: a cash payment of about 20 cents for every dollar of debt, plus recoveries it makes through lawsuits against Maan al Sanea, a Saudi businessman the Algosaibis claim caused the defaults through an alleged $10 billion fraud, The Wall Street Journal Middle East Real Time blog reported.

Saudi Arabia began to compensate shareholders in Saudi Integrated Telecom Co (SITC) for their stakes in the ailing firm on Wednesday, a statement on the Ministry of Finance website said. Last week, a royal decree declared that investors in SITC - excluding founding shareholders - would receive 30 riyals ($8) per share for their stakes in the company, a 23 percent premium on the stock's last traded price of 24.35 riyals. A lawyer for SITC's minority shareholders had told Reuters he expected it would take a few months for his clients to receive their money.

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co. invited creditors including BNP Paribas SA (BNP) and Standard Chartered Plc to discuss claims on $5.9 billion of debt as it seeks to recover from the Middle East’s biggest default, Bloomberg News reported. The Saudi Arabian company, with interests ranging from construction to finance, will “outline proposals aimed at achieving a comprehensive settlement” with more than 70 creditors at a May 7 meeting in Dubai, according to a copy of an invitation sent to banks yesterday and seen by Bloomberg News.

When liquidators closed the books on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International case in May, a 21-year-old scandal that shook the global financial system and ensnared arms dealers, dictators and even the CIA appeared to be over. Earlier this month, however, creditors of the failed bank got the go-ahead from a judge in Luxembourg to partially reopen the case and make one last attempt to collect $326 million from Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal Middle East Real Time blog reported.

Saudi contractor Mohammad Al Mojil Group (MMG) said on Monday it had appointed the investment banking arm of Gulf International Bank to advise it on a restructuring of its debts, Reuters reported. No value of the amount of debt being restructured was given in the statement, released to the Saudi stock exchange. MMG Group has been in financial difficulty for some time, with shareholders rejecting a plan to liquidate the company in November after its accumulated losses exceeded 75 percent of its capital at the end of the third quarter.