Thursday, Apr 05, 2012
Dubai Dubai Holding yesterday announced that Dubai International Capital (DIC), its private equity arm, has reached a final agreement with its lenders on the restructuring of approximately $2.5 billion (Dh9.1 billion) of liabilities.
The company said yesterday that under the deal reached between DIC and its creditors, the latter will extend the debt for five year and will receive 2 per cent interest on the restructured loans.
“The successful restructuring is a result of the significant commitment demonstrated by all stakeholders and Dubai Holding acknowledges their role in achieving this agreement. The restructuring puts DIC on a sound financial footing,” Ahmad Bin Byat, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Holding, said.
The company also signed an agreement with creditors on a facility of approximately $350 million of liabilities, under which creditors will extend their debt for three years at the unchanged contractual rate of interest.
“This successful refinancing will allow for the implementation of the management team’s long-term business plan to maximise the value of the company’s portfolio of assets for the benefit of all stakeholders,” said David Smoot, DIC Chief Executive Officer.
The successful restructuring of DIC’s debt is the latest in a series of debt restructurings that Dubai government-related entities (GRE) undertook since the $24 billion restructuring of Dubai World.
Bankers and analysts said with the strong revival in the economy supported by tourism, trading, aviation and hospitality sectors, Dubai entities will manage to meet their debt maturities. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has said it believed that Dubai will manage its upcoming 2012 redemptions.
In January Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG) met the redemption of a $500 million bond and three scheduled interest payments on its Medium Term Notes (MTN).
Other GREs such as the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) and DIFC Investments committed to meet all their up coming maturities on time.
Successful exits
DIC’s holdings include stakes in British hotel chain Travelodge Group and precision engineering company Doncasters Group, German industrial packager Mauser, alumina-products maker Almatis and Doncasters Group.
By Babu Das Augustine?Deputy Business Editor
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
