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Dubai court declares Arabtec bankrupt

4 November 2022

The Dubai court has declared U­­­AE contractor Arabtec bankrupt and initiated proceedings to liquidate assets and funds. 

The bankruptcy and liquidation ruling will be applicable to Arabtec Holding and subsidiaries including Arabtec Construction Dubai, Austrian Arabian Readymix Concrete, Arabtec Precast, Arabtec Construction Abu Dhabi, Emirates Falcon Electromechanical Co (Efeco) Dubai and Efeco Abu Dhabi.

The 24 October decision includes the dismissal of all directors and board members of Arabtec Holding from the company and its subsidiaries in the UAE and abroad.

The court has appointed two trustees who will formulate at least three creditor committees to discuss all auction, sale and liquidation procedures with the trustees and the court. The ruling states that the contractor will be prohibited from managing and disposing of company funds, pay any claims or borrow any sums in Arabtec’s name.

The bankruptcy trustees will commence the selling, liquidation and distribution to the creditors in accordance with the UAE’s bankruptcy law. They will also determine the market value of all assets through specialised appraisers and proceed with the selling of Target Engineering Construction and Arabtec Engineering Services.

The trustees will prepare a monthly progress report on the sale and liquidation procedures. 

A follow-up meeting has been scheduled on 16 November.

Background

Arabtec Holding, of which Arabtec Construction is the largest subsidiary, was the first private construction firm to list on the Dubai Financial Market in 2005.

On 30 September 2020, Arabtec shareholders voted to liquidate after the contractor’s first-half net loss of AED794m ($216m) in 2020.

The Dubai-listed contractor had previously reported a net loss of AED774m ($210.7m) for the 2019 fiscal year, citing declining revenues and the real estate industry slowdown as key factors behind its performance.

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Sarah Rizvi

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