Dubai Dubai’s shipyard operator Drydocks World signed a deal on Wednesday to form a joint venture for its Asian operations with Singapore’s Kuok Group as it tries to close a $2.2 billion (Dh8.08 billion) debt restructuring, the companies said.

The shipbuilder has been working on the deal since at least December, when chairman Khamis Juma Bu Amim first discussed the possibility of sharing control of its Asian businesses.

Financial terms for the Asia deal were not disclosed. Company executives declined to say how much of a stake Kuok would have in the venture.

Bu Amim has repeatedly characterised the planned tie-up as a partnership rather than an acquisition, a theme he reiterated at the deal’s signing in Dubai.

“This is [a] joint venture of true value. It is not a takeover. It is not a process where people are running away from their responsibilities or anything like that,” Bu Amim told reporters.

Drydocks World operates the Middle East’s largest shipyard in Dubai, where it builds and repairs ships and oil drilling rigs. That yard is not included in the venture.

Its Asian business consists of four shipyards in Singapore and Indonesia, as well as a fleet of more than 100 tankers, cargo ships, tugboats, barges and other vessels.

The new venture, a partnership with Kuok’s Pacific Carrier Ltd, will be named DDW-PaxOcean Asia Ltd. and will be based in Singapore. Bu Amim will be the chairman, but the role of CEO has not been determined.

Kuok Group is a holding company for a group of Singapore-based businesses owned by the family of Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, one of Southeast Asia’s richest men.

Its Pacific Carrier division operates a fleet of ships hauling dry bulk goods, tankers and other vessels.

Drydocks World is trying to drive through a drawn-out restructuring effort to rework the terms on $2.2 billion in debt.

The negotiations have been complicated by a lawsuit by one of its creditors, Monarch Alternative Capital, which was seeking about $45 million.

The shipbuilder filed a claim with a special Dubai tribunal in April, aiming to convince holdout creditors to agree to its revised debt terms.

DryDocks World expects the Asia venture deal to close in the third quarter.