A major Dubai property investment fund is in the spotlight after its lenders blocked a debt restructuring plan and raised “serious concerns” about its transparency and governance.
总部位于迪拜的阿联酋房地产投资信托基金(Emirates REIT)在一场罕见的投资者激进主义运动之后被迫撤回对其价值400亿美元的伊斯兰债券的重组提议——这在保守的海湾地区并不常见。
Emirates REIT, the largest Sharia-compliant real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United Arab Emirates, confirmed on Monday that it failed to get the 75% of shareholder votes needed to go ahead with the restructure, which would have included delaying the bond’s maturity date by two years to 2024.
“Emirates REIT has therefore decided to rescind the voluntary offer and will continue to work on enhancing the capital structure for the benefit of all equity and debt holders within the REIT,” it said in a statement on Monday.
通勤者沿着谢赫扎耶德路行驶，经过阿拉伯联合酋长国迪拜的商业和住宅物业。
克里斯托弗·派克| 彭博| 盖蒂图片社
伊斯兰教法合规性意味着相关基金或信托受伊斯兰教法和伊斯兰宗教原则的约束，其中包括禁止以利润为目的收取利息，并禁止大部分收入来自酒精、赌博、猪肉、色情和色情制品的投资。武器销售。
激进投资者的胜利？
Eleven institutional creditors, including Scotland’s Aberdeen Standard Investments, successfully campaigned to have the deal scrapped. The group in a June 2 statement said its opposition reflected the “serious concerns” that lenders had regarding “weak governance, cash leakage and continued lack of transparency” at Emirates REIT.
“What concerns me the most is the utter and complete lack of transparency from the company,” said Ahmad Alanani, CEO of Dubai-based Sancta Capital, which was also part of the creditor group.
Dissenting creditors claim Equitativa, the REIT manager, failed to offer an explanation of the company’s liquidity profile, its ability to repay at the proposed maturity, and provide information about an ongoing regulatory probe. Rothschild was among the institutions hired as advisors to the bondholders opposing the changes.
“What is the current status of the investigation with the regulator? What is the basis of the valuation of the assets of the REIT? What is the current liquidity position of the REIT? What is the business plan and forecast projections?” Alanani told CNBC’s Capital Connection.
“The company provides a level of disclosure that can best be described as basic,” he added.
Equitativa 拒绝了该组织的说法，并表示正在配合当地监管机构迪拜金融服务管理局正在进行的调查。
“I believe the company proactively and voluntarily put forward a straightforward transaction which was fairly and explicitly designed to enhance the tradability of the Sukuk,” Arun Reddy, managing director at U.S.-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey, an advisor to Emirates REIT, said in a statement on Monday. Sukuk is the Arabic word for an Islamic bond, an instrument whose popularity has grown rapidly in recent years.
Houlihan Lokey表示，它正在为阿联酋房地产投资信托基金提供改善其资产负债表的建议，包括可能从迪拜纳斯达克当地交易所退市。
评级机构惠誉上月底 downgraded Emirates REIT’s credit rating several notches from ‘B+’ to ‘C’, the final rating before a borrower defaults on its debt. Fitch said the firm’s proposed bond alteration was a “material reduction in terms for lenders.”
8 年 2020 月 XNUMX 日星期一，在阿拉伯联合酋长国迪拜的迪拜码头区，摩托艇经过水边的住宅摩天大楼。
克里斯托弗·派克| 彭博| 盖蒂图片社
阿联酋房地产投资信托基金已要求债务持有人将其无担保票据换成有担保但期限较长的替代票据，以期在迪拜因大流行引发的房地产和经济衰退的情况下巩固其资产负债表。
阿联酋房地产投资信托基金表示，绝大多数有投票权的伊斯兰债券持有人（57%）都投票赞成其提议。该公司还表示，不存在与其债务相关的违约或解散事件。
据最新披露，其住宅、商业和教育资产组合价值 690 亿美元。该公司表示，它有足够的资金支付本月即将向股东支付的股息（价值 10.2 万美元）。另一笔付款将于 XNUMX 月到期。
‘The UAE is not immune’
此次债务纠纷发生之际，阿联酋正试图巩固其作为商业和金融中心的声誉，此前发生了一系列备受瞩目的丑闻，其中包括总部位于阿布扎比的医院运营商 NMC 和总部位于迪拜的私募股权公司 Abraaj 倒闭。
“The fact that the REIT and the REIT manager are under investigation really speaks to a level of oversight,” Alanani said in defense of the local regulator. “The UAE is not immune to fraud or governance issues. This happens everywhere.”
“We need to sit in good faith, engage constructively with all stakeholders at the table, and find a way forward,” he added.
The UAE’s economy — the Arab world’s second largest — contracted by 6% in 2020, according to its central bank, while Dubai’s economy contracted by roughly 11%, according to S&P. The ratings agency doesn’t see the city’s economy returning to pre-crisis levels until 2023.
