Abraaj wins Cayman order on revamp
PWC NAMED LIQUIDATORS OF HOLDING FIRM WHILE DELOITTE WILL HANDLE INVESTMENT ARM
The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has appointed PricewaterCoopers (PwC) as provisional liquidator of Abraaj Holdings and Deloitte as provisional liquidators of Abraaj Investment Management Ltd. This was revealed by Abraaj Holdings Limited yesterday. |
The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has appointed Pricewater-Coopers (PwC) as provisional liquidator of Abraaj Holdings and Deloitte as provisional liquidators of Abraaj Investment Management Ltd.
This was revealed by Abraaj Holdings Limited yesterday.
Abraaj filed a petition last week in the Cayman Islands, asking the courts there to appoint provisional liquidators for the embattled entities.
The court on June 18 made an order appointing Simon Conway of PwC Corporate Finance and Recovery (Cayman) Limited, as well as Michael Jervis and Mohammad Farzadi, also from PwC, as joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) of Abraaj Holdings.
“Subject to the final sealed order of the Cayman Court, this ensures that the rights of all stakeholders can be protected while the company and the JPLs promote a consensual restructuring of the company’s obligations,” the company said in a statement.
The court also heard an application by Abraaj Investment Management Limited (AIML) to appoint David Soden and Stuart Sybersma of Deloitte as joint provisional liquidators of the fund management business, Abraaj said in a statement.
“This order validates the position consistently maintained by Abraaj that an orderly restructuring, under the guidance of a highly experienced team of Joint Provisional Liquidators, can ensure the outcomes we seek for the company and its creditors. We are wholly committed to supporting the JPLs through this process and ensuring stability and value maximisation for all parties,” said Arif Naqvi, founder of The Abraaj Group.
Abraaj, once a rising star in the world of private equity, last week filed for a court-supervised restructuring as it fights allegations of commingling of funds and potential fund misuse. The move comes less than five months after some investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, commissioned an audit to probe alleged mismanagement of money in Abraaj’s health care fund.
The company, which is estimated to have more than $13 billion under management, is facing legal challenges from investors and creditors, with these challenges compounding issues relating to liquidity.
Among the various litigations, the most prominent are the cases filed by Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security earlier this month for the liquidation and winding up of Abraaj Holdings after it defaulted on a loan. A second creditor, Auctus Fund Ltd, also filed a petition in the Cayman Islands seeking repayment of loans owed.
In addition to the concerns raised by the unsecured lenders, a group of institutional lenders led by some of the leading international and UAE banks that have secured loan exposures to the company are understood to be seeking legal advice on their future courses of action.
Abraaj yesterday said it has the backing of secured creditors.
The decisions made by the Cayman court now enable Abraaj Holdings and Abraaj Investment Management to independently pursue court-supervised restructuring plans in an orderly fashion and for the benefit of their respective creditors.