DUBAI:

Dubai-listed construction and engineering company Drake & Scull International has asked advisers for proposals to review its business and find strategic investors, its chief financial officer told Reuters on Monday.

The company, one of the biggest engineering companies in the Gulf with a workforce of about 31,000 people, reported this month that it had swung into the red in the second quarter.

Like many other Gulf construction companies, it has been hit hard by an economic slowdown in the region due to low oil prices. Governments have cut spending on new projects and in some countries, including Saudi Arabia, they have delayed payments to firms for work already completed.