Dubai Group requests haircut from creditors to settle debt early- sources
Dubai Group, an investment firm owned by the emirate's ruler, has requested creditors to take a haircut on debt maturing in 2024 in exchange for an early settlement, banking sources said.
The firm completed a restructuring on around $6 billion of debt in 2014, with lenders agreeing to extend the maturity for secured debt to December 2016 and unsecured loans to December 2024. A further $4 billion of debt was to be repaid after creditors were satisfied.
In the last few days the company offered creditors around 29 cents on the dollar in return for an early settlement of debt maturing in 2024, the sources said, declining to say the value of the amount.
Creditors who decline the offer will be repaid at a higher rate in 2024.
Parent company Dubai Holding declined to comment.
Dubai Group was one of a number of Dubai state-linked entities which borrowed heavily from banks to fund an acquisitions spree during the boom years of 2006-8.
The current creditors are mainly local banks, including Emirates NBD, Dubai's largest bank, which has among the largest exposure.
Dubai Group has shed assets in recent years including selling a 48.4 percent stake in Dubai-listed investment bank Shuaa Capital to Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) in June 2016.
It still holds a 12.8 percent stake in Bank Muscat, according to Thomson Reuters data.
0 comments