Amlak completes financial restructuring

27/11/2014 05:38 AST

Islamic mortgage company Amlak Finance on Wednesday said it completed financial and debt restructuring deal with its creditors.

This was announced by Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and the Chairman of the Committee to Assess the Condition of some Public Shareholding Companies of the UAE.

In August, the financial and debt restructuring package for Amlak was approved by its financiers. Following this announcement, Amlak’s shareholders approved the restructuring proposal at the company’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in September, including approval of an increase in share capital of the company and the issuance of an Islamic financial instrument convertible into shares up to a maximum of Dh2.1 billion.

Finalisation of the documentation for the restructuring now completes the official implementation process. Amlak’s financial restructuring which now pave the way towards Amlak’s shares being readmitted for trading on the DFM in 2015.

“Amlak has worked closely with the restructuring committee over the past two years to bring the restructuring to a successful completion and I would like to extend my gratitude to all parties involved in contributing to this critical restructuring,” said Al Mansouri.

Amlak’s shares have been suspended since November 2008 and the global financial crisis, and a number of attempts to revive the firm since then have failed. Following the financial restructuring, the company is hopeful of starting to trade its shares on the DFM in early 2015 and start extending Islamic mortgage lending.

Core operations

“Amlak will continue to work in positioning itself for future long-term growth and restructuring its business operations while also ensuring we work within the agreed parameters of the restructuring package. We continue to work towards our aim to return to trading on the DFM in early 2015, which will allow us to then focus on our core business operations,” said Arif Alharmi, CEO of Amlak

The regulatory requirements for readmission of share trading on the DFM include regulators’ approval of the company’s post restructuring and prior years’ financial statements as well as the shareholders’ approval at the annual general meeting (AGM). A request of readmission for share trading will then be submitted to market regulator Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) and the DFM after the AGM. The AGM is provisionally scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2015.

Gulf News