Dubai World's property businesses are heavily indebted Dubai World has met creditors, including executives from HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland, to discuss its debt repayment plan. A Dubai World spokesman said the meeting was an overview of its plans and it would continue to work with financial creditors in an orderly way. It was the first face-to-face meeting since the firm asked for an extension on its debt repayments in November. News of the delay prompted big falls on stock markets around the world. Abu Dhabi subsequently provided Dubai with a $10bn loan to stop it from defaulting on a repayment. Clarity needed In a statement, Dubai World also said: "As long as a [debt repayment] standstill is successfully implemented, Dubai World has assurances that the Government of Dubai, through the Dubai Financial Support Fund, will provide financial support to cover working capital and interest expenses to ensure the continuity of key projects". The BBC's Jeremy Howell in Dubai said it was in the bankers' interests to come to an agreement over the debt repayments. "The last thing they want is for Nakheel [Dubai World's property business] to be driven into liquidation when they would get birdseed... it is in their interest to prop up the company in the hope that they might get their money back eventually" he said. Analysts said it was important for Dubai World to provide clarity on how it plans to pay back the loans. "Obviously a standstill is not ideal," said Raj Madha, banking analyst at EFG-Hermes. "But a standstill with visibility of when payments will be received or the extent of these payments would be sufficient to call it a result".



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