DUBAI- Dubai's Arabtec Holding has hired New York-based investment bank Moelis & Co to work on a new debt-restructuring plan for the construction company, three sources told Reuters.

The move comes little more than a year after Arabtec raised 1.5 billion dirhams ($408.4 million) in a rights issue to wipe out accumulated losses and separately asked banks to waive terms on its debt.

The Gulf construction sector has slumped since a collapse in oil prices four years ago forced governments to rein in spending, leading to a debt crunch at some companies that operate across the Middle East.

Arabtec, which helped build the Louvre Abu Dhabi, aims to reschedule short-term debt to long-term borrowing, two of the sources told Reuters. The company had 1.63 billion dirhams in short-term liabilities and 728 million in long-term debt as of June 30, according to its last financial report.

Its total assets at June 30 stood at 11.2 billion dirhams.

The company is working at refinancing some loans, disposing off some assets and realigning the balance sheet, a third source said.

The sources declined to be identified, citing commercial sensitivities.

An Arabtec spokesman did not respond to requests for comment and Moelis declined to comment.

Moelis also worked with Arabtec two years ago to study options for Arabtec's capital restructuring.

Arabtec made a net profit attributable to shareholders of 49.4 million dirhams in second quarter.($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)

(Editing by Saeed Azhar and David Goodman) ((Hadeel.AlSayegh@thomsonreuters.com; +971566883310;))