Zabeel signs $956m debt deal
Troubled investment firm owes $1.6bn to local banks
Jumeirah Zabeel Saray is one of Zabeel’s many investments and assets.
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Zabeel Investments, the troubled investment firm owned by Dubai’s Crown Prince, has reached a $956m debt deal with lenders, sources said on Sunday.
According to a report by Alkhaleej Arabic, a local newspaper, the investment firm, which owes approximately $1.6bn to local banks, has agreed a deal after it failed to meet its repayment obligations.
In September of this year, the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank filed a legal claim for $107.31m against Zabeel, citing its inability to pay its dues.
Earlier this month, Dubai Real Estate Corporation announced that it would take over management of the indebted firm.
A Reuters report said that although sources had claimed that DREC had taken over the company, which owes approximately $1.6bn to mostly local banks, Mohammed al Shaibani said that this wasn’t the case.
“Zabeel is only managed by DREC, the ownership is still the same,” he said on the sidelines of a real estate conference.
However, sources told the newswire that DREC will lead fresh debt discussions after talks on restructuring debt fell through in January of this year.
Zabeel Investments is owned by Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed al Maktoum and was formed in 2006. It has hospitality, property and private equity assets, with the Zabeel Saray hotel on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah one of its most prominent assets.
