Dubai World to meet lenders over debt restructuring: Report

DUBAI: Dubai's heavily-indebted group, Dubai World, holds talks on Monday with its creditors to reach an agreement over its request to restructure $22 billion in debt, local media said.

Representatives of at least 90 creditors will be take part in the Dubai meeting, with the first aim being to name a coordinating committee to represent the creditors, the National newspaper said.

The committee is likely to include four British banks -- HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered, which are believed to have a Dubai World debt exposure exceeding five billion dollars, the paper said.

Regional lenders are led by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Dubai's Emirates NBD bank.

Dubai World will be represented by its chief restructuring officer, Aidan Birkett, of Deloitte global accounting firm, who was recently hired by the Dubai government to oversee the revamping of the group.

The meeting is believed to be just the beginning of long negotiations to sort the obligations of a number of Dubai World subsidiaries which are up for restructuring.

Topping the list is the group's giant property developer Nakheel, which narrowly escaped being pushed to default on debt after a last-minute Dubai announcement last week that Nakheel's maturing Islamic bonds of $4.1 billion would be paid on time.

The payment was covered thanks to a 10-billion-dollar lifeline extended by neighbouring deep-pocketted Abu Dhabi, which brought to $25 billion the total aid supplied by Abu Dhabi and the UAE's central bank to sort the debt problems of Dubai corporates.

Dubai made it clear that remaining funds would cover Dubai World's interest payments and arrears to contractors through April 2010 on the condition that the group reaches a debt restructuring settlement with its lenders.

The emirate had rocked global markets last month when it requested a six-month freeze on debt payments by the group in order to restructure it.

Top Dubai financial officials have reportedly told banking leaders in London last week that Dubai World could still pay the bank loans of its troubled subsidiaries in full over the medium term.

Debts owed to banks are believed to amount to over a half of the obligations of the concerned units.

The total debt of Dubai is estimated between 80 and 100 billion dollars. Dubai World's debt was $59 billion before the government paid Nakheel's $4.1 billion bonds.