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Tuesday, 19 June 2018

Abraaj seeks court-supervised restructuring, sells OC stake in bid for liquidity

Abraaj submits application for court-supervised restructuring: The once high-flying emerging markets private equity firm filed last week an application for a court-supervised restructuring in the Cayman Islands, it said in a statement last Thursday (pdf). “The Company has made this application so that the rights of all stakeholders can be protected while the Company and the [joint liquidators] promote a consensual restructuring of the Company’s obligations,” the firm added. The move comes as investors and creditors have been howling to get their money out of the firm, which once managed USD 14 bn in assets. Among them is the UAE’s Jafar family, a one-time Naqvi ally and founders of Dana Gas, who are looking to recoup a USD 100 mn loan from Abraaj, according to Bloomberg. You can catch the timeline of the unravelling, courtesy of Bloomberg.

Can’t get enough? The business information service has a tic-toc on what went wrong headlined “The Downfall of Dubai’s Star Investor.”

Seeking liquidity, Abraaj has sold its full 5.4% stake in Orascom Construction, according to a regulatory filing from OC on the Nasdaq Dubai on Thursday. Abraaj sold at a price of USD 8.30 per share, valuing the stake at USD 52 mn.

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