Thursday, Jun 21, 2012
By Asa Fitch
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Dubai's Drydocks World is less than two weeks away from a joint-venture agreement that will reorganize its Southeast Asian business, Chairman Khamis Juma Buamim said Thursday.
He declined to name the joint-venture partner or say how much money the deal might generate for Drydocks, which is realigning its business amid a $2.2 billion debt restructuring.
The ship-building and repair firm is based in Dubai but expanded in Asia in 2008, taking on the debt that is now being restructured to purchase assets in Singapore.
"We're going to see what we need to keep and what we need to throw [away]," Mr. Buamim said after a press conference in Dubai. "That's why it's called a JV. I take what I want, you take what you want, and we agree what we don't want. This is a strategic partner [and] we believe we will both grow."
As the joint-venture talks continue, Drydocks, a subsidiary of government-owned Dubai World, has filed a case in a special court to push through its debt restructuring proposal after creditors holding almost all of the company's debt agreed to new terms.
Write to Asa Fitch at asa.fitch@dowjones.com; Twitter @ZDJnews
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
21-06-12 1552GMT
