Bids flow in for Nakheel claims tender

Several claims consultants have submitted bids for the Nakheel tender issued last month. The list includes the firms EC Harris, Brewer Consulting, Navigant Consulting and Driver Consult, according to a reliable source in the industry who divulged these names to Emirates Business.

When asked about the final number of bidders, a Nakheel spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, these are internal matters that we do not comment on." The developer was not willing to reveal the final list of bidders or the contract award date for the tender, which closed on May 30.

When contacted, EC Harris and Brewer Consulting did not confirm their participation while a senior official at Hill International said it did not participate in the bid.

Last month, this newspaper had reported that the Nakheel invitation for claims consultants was the first public invitation to tender after a prior private bid for tenders. "A month back, we were asked to submit bids for the same," an industry source who did not wish to be identified, had said then. In a response, a Nakheel spokesperson said: "The company is increasing its resources to expedite settlement of contractor claims."

The developer had invited tenders for "the review and assessment of claims related to Nakheel's various construction/consultancy/supply and other contracts. It added that the claims consultants could buy the documents for a non-refundable fee of Dh500 before May 23 while May 30 was the date for final submissions.

In May, the developer had sent out a statement, saying: "Within a month of presenting its trade creditors with a settlement agreement offering them 100 per cent recovery of agreed claims, Nakheel has secured the agreement of many of its trade creditors, with claims of approximately Dh6 billion."

The Dubai Financial Support Fund has provided for the full payment of Nakheel's floating rate Dh3.6bn Islamic bond maturing on May 13, the company said on May 11.

On April 16, Nakheel said it would pay 40 per cent of the amounts owed to trade creditors in cash. The rest would be paid in publicly-traded securities and creditors would get cash payment as soon as an agreement was reached on at least 65 per cent of all claims. Reports said the developer had unpaid bills (accounts payable and accruals) of Dh28.6bn at June 2009-end, the last period for which financial results were available.

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