Creditors of Dubai International Capital (DIC), an arm of the government-owned conglomerate Dubai Holding, are demanding more stringent terms on the extension of a US$1.25 billion (Dh4.59bn) loan that originally came due in June. The two sides are understood to be some way from reaching a final settlement on the loan, a deal seen as a key step towards restoring order to Dubai's finances after Dubai World reached a pact last month to restructure about $24.9bn of debt.
The acceptance of the Dubai World deal by 99 per cent of the government-owned group's bank creditors gave a boost to local stock markets and sent down the cost of insuring Dubai debt against default. It also laid the groundwork for Dubai's sale last week of $1.25bn of government debt, its first round of fund-raising since Dubai World said it would seek a standstill on debt repayments in November. The debts of DIC and Dubai Holding have now begun to take centre stage as confidence in the emirate's economic recovery begins to take hold.
DIC is a private equity group that owns stakes in companies including the UK budget hotel chain Travelodge and a minority stake in EADS, Europe's largest aerospace group. A source familiar with the talks said DIC was pushing for a new five-year loan with an interest rate based on the London interbank offered rate (Libor) plus 0.85 percentage points. But creditors are understood to want much higher interest rates, according to observers, plus asset sale tests in the second and fourth years of the new five-year loan.
Under such tests, if DIC were to fail to sell off assets as envisioned under loan restructuring terms, lenders could declare the company in default and seek recompense in courts. "The creditors are putting up a fierce fight," one source said, adding DIC's assets were last valued at $2.7bn and it had debts of slightly less than that amount. A government spokeswoman, however, said discussions between DIC and its lenders over the new loan terms were going smoothly.
After initially extending repayment on the loan until the end of last month, DIC recently received the go-ahead for a further extension until the end of next month as talks progress. "Our discussions with DIC's lenders to agree a consensual longer-term plan have been progressing well and we are currently discussing the term sheet, which is a very positive step forward," the spokeswoman said. "The maturity deadline has been extended to the end of November to enable us to move through the documentation stage. In the meantime, DIC will continue to service its debt obligations as normal."
As it negotiates with creditors, DIC is already selling off some assets it acquired between 2005 and 2007, during the height of the global credit boom.
afitch@thenational.ae
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
If%20you%20go
%3Cp%3E%0DThere%20are%20regular%20flights%20from%20Dubai%20to%20Addis%20Ababa%20with%20Ethiopian%20Airlines%20with%20return%20fares%20from%20Dh1%2C700.%20Nashulai%20Journeys%20offers%20tailormade%20and%20ready%20made%20trips%20in%20Africa%20while%20Tesfa%20Tours%20has%20a%20number%20of%20different%20community%20trekking%20tours%20throughout%20northern%20Ethiopia.%20%20The%20Ben%20Abeba%20Lodge%20has%20rooms%20from%20Dh228%2C%20and%20champions%20a%20programme%20of%20re-forestation%20in%20the%20surrounding%20area.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
KYLIAN MBAPPE 2016/17 STATS
Ligue 1: Appearances - 29, Goals - 15, Assists - 8
UCL: Appearances - 9, Goals - 6
French Cup: Appearances - 3, Goals - 3
France U19: Appearances - 5, Goals - 5, Assists - 1
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Killing of Qassem Suleimani