United Arab Emirates

NMC Health has called on lenders for time to stabilise its finances, as the embattled healthcare group looks to safeguard cash and sustain its operations. The company, which is under investigation by UK regulators, said on Monday that it had sought a so-called “informal standstill” agreement in which lenders hold off exercising any “rights and remedies” they may have in the event of “current or future defaults,” the Financial Times reported.

NMC Health has hired Moelis to advise on debt restructuring as the struggling healthcare group faces signs of a cash crunch with staff members complaining about late salary payments, the Financial Times reported. The mandate was welcomed by lenders, who have become increasingly concerned about their loan exposure to the scandal-hit FTSE 100 company. Trading of NMC’s shares was suspended last week as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into its finances. “We just desperately need to see some stabilisation,” said one banker.

France is looking at options to help Lebanon recover from its financial crisis, including an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme if Beirut seeks one, a minister said on Monday, Reuters reported. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also told reporters in Abu Dhabi that he had discussed the situation in Lebanon with the United Arab Emirates leadership. “We are very concerned,” Le Maire said, adding that the United Arab Emirates and France will decide separately if and how to support the government in Beirut.

NMC Health Plc founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty hired Houlihan Lokey Inc. to explore strategic options for his holding company, including a potential debt restructuring or the sale of some assets, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The investment bank is working with BRS Ventures Investment to revamp debt and seek potential investment partners or sell assets from the portfolio, which holds 30 companies including hospital operator NMC and financial services firm Finablr Plc, according to the people.

Dubai will take its port operator private after a dozen years to alleviate its debt burden and avoid a repeat of the economic crisis that forced a bailout of the country in 2009, Bloomberg News reported. As a source of cash for the state, DP World Ltd. is a key asset for the emirate as it endures another year of lower property prices and a struggling retail sector. The country has introduced some counter-measures to revive growth, like easing restrictions on visas and tackling oversupply in the real-estate market.

Abu Dhabi-based construction firm Al Fara’a Group is in talks with banks to restructure about 2 billion dirhams ($545 million) in liabilities, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. A large chunk of this is held by local lenders including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC and First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The group has been facing difficulties for a number of years and has cut thousands of jobs, delayed payments to employees and vendors, some of the people said.

Dubai’s biggest bank is going after a plot of land in the city’s financial hub that belongs to debt-laden Al Jaber Group, Bloomberg News reported. Emirates NBD PJSC is seeking to seize or sell the undeveloped land in the Dubai International Financial Centre after becoming frustrated by the pace of assets sales under Al Jaber’s debt restructuring, according to people familiar with the matter and an enforcement letter sent by the bank.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has started an auction process for a Dubai hotel operated by Shangri-La and owned by indebted construction group Al Jaber with a starting price of 700 million dirhams ($190.59 million), two sources said, Reuters reported. Al Jaber, best known as a contractor but with interests across a range of sectors, has struggled since a construction downturn in the United Arab Emirates after the global financial crisis.

Courier app Fetchr, once one of the Middle East’s largest startups, raised as much as $10 million in emergency funding to help avoid collapse, Bloomberg News reported. The Dubai-based company, which offers delivery and logistics services to e-commerce firms, is also in the process of securing as much as $25 million in additional funding to turn the company around, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Creditors of Abu Dhabi-based Al Jaber Group are considering enforcing claims against the owners of the group after delays in executing a restructuring agreement, the latest in a long-running debt dispute, two sources familiar with the matter said. Al Jaber, best known as a contractor but with interests across a range of sectors, has struggled since a construction downturn in the United Arab Emirates after the global financial crisis, Reuters reported.