NMC has been placed into administration in the United Arab Emirates, allowing the troubled hospital group to meet September salaries by securing an additional $325m in funding, the Financial Times reported. During online hearings at the courts of Abu Dhabi’s international financial centre on Sunday, NMC Healthcare and related companies successfully applied for protection against enforcement of debt claims, in an emergency bid to sustain operations amid a second spike in coronavirus cases in the Gulf state.
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Loss-making Dubai-listed contractor Arabtec Holding has hired advisory firm AlixPartners to help it restructure the company's debt, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, Reuters reported. AlixPartners is assessing the company’s debt profile, before any potential discussions with Arabtec’s creditors, said the sources, declining to be named as the matter is not public. Arabtec did not respond to a query for comment when contacted by Reuters on Thursday. AlixPartners declined to comment.
Abu Dhabi-based KBBO Group, once one of NMC Health Plc’s biggest shareholders, has hired a turnaround specialist to restructure its $2 billion debt pile, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg News reported. The privately-held investment firm with assets in health care and food named Bruno Navarro as its chief restructuring officer, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
Creditors have started to enforce claims against Abu Dhabi-based Al Jaber Group, in a dispute triggered by a construction downturn in the United Arab Emirates more than a decade ago, Reuters reported. Al Jaber, a contractor with interests across a range of sectors, has struggled since building up debt in the wake of a UAE real estate crisis and began talks with creditors in 2011. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, which is working as restructuring and security agent, said in a document dated Sept.
Philip Day’s retail empire could be broken up after the tycoon launched a review of high street chains including Peacocks and the Edinburgh Woollen Mill following a number of unsolicited offers, the Financial Times reported. Mr Day, who has made a fortune by buying and restructuring distressed retail businesses, has received interest from potential bidders for all or part of value fashion chain Peacocks and his collection of “heritage brands”, which includes Jaeger, Austin Reed and Jacques Vert.
Determining how much debt Dubai’s government has amassed depends on who’s counting, Bloomberg News reported. What is less in dispute is that the uncertainty comes at a cost. Unlike the government, Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings include Dubai’s local bank borrowings to make the calculation, arriving at an estimate of about 290 billion dirhams ($79 billion). The debt burden could equal 77% of this year’s gross domestic product, according to S&P, comparable with what the International Monetary Fund predicts for South Africa and just behind Oman.
An Indian court has issued a second arrest warrant for a marine refuelling tanker owned by troubled UAE oil trader GP Global after it failed to make payments to its ship manager, court documents showed, Reuters reported. On Sept. 10, the High Court of the western Indian state of Gujrat granted the vessel manager’s, Singapore-based Celestial Ship Management Pte Ltd, a request to arrest the GP B3 bunker tanker for unpaid dues, according to the court documents seen by Reuters.
An Indian court has ordered the seizure of a tanker belonging to Dubai-based oil trading firm GP Global after a petition from UAE lender National Bank of Fujairah over a loan default, a court document showed, Reuters reported. The Gujarat High Court directed the authorities of Pipavav Port on Sept. 9 to seize the company’s bunkering tanker, GP B3, and detain it until a further court order or until the outstanding loan amount of just over $2 million is paid, a court document seen by Reuters shows. The next hearing is on Sept. 17.
Dubai has hired banks to advise it on its comeback to the international debt markets as the Middle East trade and tourism hub seeks to bolster finances hit by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. It is planning to issue U.S. dollar-denominated 10-year Islamic bonds, or sukuk, and 30-year conventional bonds, a document issued by one of the banks leading the deal showed. Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, and Standard Chartered will arrange investor calls, which will begin on Monday, ahead of the potential debt offering.
The restructuring of NMC Health Plc through an Abu Dhabi court could cost as much as $140 million in consultancy and legal fees, almost half of what the hospital operator’s administrators are raising in new funding from creditors, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s not cheap and we have the best advisers and the best minds in the world working on the preservation of this business,” acting Chief Executive Officer Michael Davis said in a recent interview.