Dubai: Emirates NBD on Sunday said its exposure to Abraaj stands at $38.9 million (Dh142.87 million), raising total exposure to the embattled private equity firm to more than $2 billion.
Emirates NBD has an exposure of $21.3 million through an equity investment in the management company. In addition, the bank has a total exposure of $17.6 million invested across three of the Abraaj funds, the bank said in a statement posted on Dubai Financial Market’s website.
This brings listed companies’ total exposure to Abraaj to the tune of $2.4 billion.
Abraaj has been accused of misusing funds by investors that include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Finance Corp. The funds were meant for investments in its health care funds. Abraaj has denied any wrongdoing.
The biggest private equity firm in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), Abraaj has since filed for provisional liquidation in the Cayman Islands. It also defaulted on loans made to the company, which resulted in a criminal case in a Sharjah court related to a bounced security cheque. The Sharjah court dismissed the case on Sunday.
