Al Jaber Group seeks debt delay

Abu Dhabi construction firm Al Jaber Group, which is in talks with lenders to restructure certain loans, is seeking a one-year delay on the debt, said a source familiar with the matter on Monday.

Al Jaber currently has $840 million in two syndicated facilities outstanding as well as bilateral loans. A $440m five-year term syndicated loan is due to mature in September and a $400m ijara facility expires in April 2013.

"They want a moratorium of one year," said the source who declined to be named, adding that banks are likely to agree as Al Jaber "is a respected name and banks would have to take a pragmatic view."

The source also said that Al Jaber had appointed advisory firm KPMG to look at its debt profile.

"Talks are at a very nascent stage. The banks will accept some restructuring of the debts but the form and shape (of the restructuring) are still under negotiation."

Officials at privately-held Al Jaber declined to comment on the debt delay terms.

Earlier, Al Jaber issued a statement saying it had approached lenders "with a view of improving the terms of its facilities."

Al Jaber said it had "found it difficult to raise the appropriate finance to secure additional work and maintain its expansion in the region."

Al Jaber had an annual turnover of $2.5 billion and $4.4bn of projects in hand, it said in the statement.

Lenders include Emirates NBD, Lloyds TSB Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait, First Gulf Bank, Mashreq, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

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