Dubai Drydocks World (DDW) announced Thursday that it will present the terms of a proposal to restructure its debt obligations under its $2.2 billion (Dh8 billion) syndicated facility to a group of bankers on March 8.
The company has been in dialogue with its core group of lenders since late 2011 and it hopes to complete the restructuring by next July.
"With the support of its wider stakeholders, significant progress has been made over recent months in all aspects of the restructuring. As a result, DDW can today announce that it is confident that it will receive the support of a majority of its syndicated lenders to the terms of its debt restructuring," said Khamis Juma Bu Amim, Chairman of Drydocks World said in a statement.
Analysts said yesterday that the Dubai World unit took much longer than expected to complete the debt restructuring as some hedge funds objected to earlier debt negotiations while Dubai government support was not forthcoming to the company.
The syndicated facility, taken out to finance acquisitions in Singapore in October 2008, comprised a $1.7 billion three-year loan and a five-year $500 million loan.
Bookrunners for the syndication were BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mashreq, Standard Chartered and Lloyd TSB Bank among others.
"On the 8th of March 2012, DDW will present the terms of its proposal and the steps required to implement it along with the associated timeline to all its syndicated lenders. DDW is targeting a completion date of all aspects of its restructuring by July 2012," said Bu Amim.
A banker close to the talks said Thursday that the debt talks are nearing a ‘consensus' and the time frame to reach a deal announced by the company is realistic.
The shipbuilding unit of Dubai World is not regarded as a strategic asset by Dubai, meaning it has had to negotiate its own debt solution with lenders without the support of the government.
Drydocks World is one of several companies in Dubai seeking to restructure debt. While Jebel Ali Free Zone and DIFC Investments are facing debt maturities this year, Dubai Group is seeking to restructure $10 billion.
Moody's said earlier this year that the Dubai government and its state-owned entities have come a long way in tackling its maturing debt during the last two years.
