An application by troubled UAE-based building giant Arabtec to file for bankruptcy is currently being considered by a panel of seven experts.
According to a filing to Dubai Financial Market, the bankruptcy petition was submitted to Dubai Court by Arabtec Holding PJSC, in addition to subsidiaries Arabtec Constriction LLC, Austrian Arabian Readymix Concrete Co. LLC, Arabtec Precast LLC and Emirates Falcon Electromechanical Co.
The statement said that the job of the seven experts “shall be limited to the preparation of separate reports for each of the subsidiaries in addition to the preparation of a consolidated report on the holding company, and to evaluate its financial position, and whether it’s considered indebted, and the possibility of restructuring”.
It added that the first meeting between the experts and legal representatives of Arabtec Holding PJSC and the joining parties – global advocacy and legal counsel – had already taken place. “The matter is still under consideration with the experts’ panel, whereas their report has not been issued yet,” it said.
At the start of this month, the statement said that an additional two entities, working under the umbrella of the holding company, GSI Steel Construction Contracting LLC and Gulf Steel Industries FZE, have been added to the bankruptcy note.
In January, the construction company behind iconic structures such as the Burj Khalifa and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, said it had hired deNovo Corporate Advisors and Lumina Capital Advisers as part of efforts to sell subsidiary companies Target Engineering and Arabtec Engineering Services (AES).
While on December 17, the company, which was valued at about AED30 billion ($8.17 billion) at its peak in 2014, said it and some of its subsidiaries had filed for insolvent liquidation pursuant to the resolutions of its shareholders on September 30 and November 30.
In its last financial results for the first half of 2020, Arabtec reported a net loss of AED794 million ($216 million) for the first six months of the year. It came after the company reported a AED774m ($211m) loss for 2019, a substantial drop from the AED256 million ($70 million) profit announced in 2018.
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