Saudi businessman al-Sanea seeks last-ditch debt deal

DUBAI, March 13, (RTRS): Saudi Arabia’s collapsed Saad Group, led by businessman Maan al-Sanea, has called a meeting with creditors in a last-ditch attempt to end a dispute over 16 billion riyals ($4.3 billion) of claims, sources close to the matter said.

Advisers to the group have asked creditors to meet in Dubai over the next few days, seeking a deal before Saudi authorities start auctioning, from March 18, billions of dollars of assets, including machinery, real estate, vehicles, belonging to Maan alSanea and his company, the sources added.

Maan al-Sanea, ranked in 2007 by Forbes as one of the world’s 100 richest people, was detained in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province last October for unpaid debt. His case is separate from the dozens of Saudi businessmen and prominent figures who have been held in a corruption crackdown.

Saad Group defaulted together with Ahmad Hamad al-Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) in 2009, in what was Saudi Arabia’s biggest financial meltdown, leaving local and international banks with unpaid debt of about $22 billion.

Advised by Reemas, a financial consultancy, Maan al-Sanea has asked some of Saad’s creditors to meet in order to appoint a steering committee to coordinate negotiations between lenders and debtors — Saad Group and Maan al-Sanea himself — ahead of a potential debt settlement, sources who have seen the term sheet that sets the framework for a deal told Reuters.

The proposal, sent to creditors on March 7, concerns 42 eligible banks that have obtained final nonappealable judgements against Maan al-Sanea, Saad Group, or both, from a court in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, the sources said, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter.