Companies
26/12/2017

$1 Billion Debt Deal Reached With Creditors By Dubai Sheikh's Buyout Firm




A loan of about $1 billion has been agreed to be rolled over by banks for Dubai International Capital LLC according to sources quoted in media reports.
 
The reports quoted people who requested not to be identified since the information is private saying that the private-equity firm has plans of extension of the loan for three years. The private-equity firm is owned by the ruler of the emirate and an agreement with banks is anticipated to be signed in the next few weeks. This is the second instance that the loan is being restructured by the firm.
 
The sources further added that $150 million has bene asked to be paid by the bank to the DIC’s parent Dubai Holding LLC according to a payment guarantee which would be part of the first restructuring process which took place in 2012.
 
The total assets of the DIC had totaled almost $13 billion when it was at its peak years. The assets included stakes in Sony Corp. and Daimler AG. And the owner of London’s Madame Tussauds waxworks museum. After there was price slump and freezing of credit markets following the global financial crisis, which led to the firm being forced to dispose of most of those assets and was also forced to reschedule $2.5 billion of debt.
 
Another recent spat of asset selling which included stakes in packaging company Mauser AG and German alumina products-maker Almatis GmbH, the firm has been able to reduce its debt to almost $1 billion.
 
Sources also reported that DIC has recently sold some of its stake in aircraft leasing company Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd. which has been used by the firm to repay some of the debt to the banks over the past few weeks. The sources said that while Deloitte LLP is advising banks, Moelis & Co. is advising DIC in the talks.
 
Sources were also quoted in the media as saying last year that the firm ultimately plans to halt its operations after it is able to repay most of the remaining $1billion of debt to the creditors. For this purpose, the firm has plans to sell off its stake in U.K.-based engineering firm Doncasters Group Ltd. This is the only asset that remains with the firm at present. 
 
Sky News had reported in April that there were indications that the U.S. officials would not apparently approve the takeover of the firm by Beijing Xinwei which resulted in the firm abandoning talks with the Chinese company.
 
There were no comments made from spokesmen for DIC and Moelis. There also no comments from a spokesman for Deloitte.
 
(Source:www.bloomberg.com)

Christopher J. Mitchell
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