Dubai court approves bankruptcy petition of Arabtec, subsidiaries

Dubai Court of First Instance approved, on June 16, the petition for bankruptcy submitted by Arabtec Holding and its subsidiaries, the company said in a filing to Dubai Financial Market.

The subsidiaries include Arabtec Construction, Austrian Arabian Readymix Concrete Co., Arabtec Precast, Emirates Falcon Electromechanical Co. (EFECO – Abu Dhabi), and Emirates Falcon Electromechanical Co. (EFECO-Dubai).

The court decided to appoint a trustee for each entity. It also ordered each appointed trustee to publish the bankruptcy decision of each entity, review its debts, deposit a list and a record of its creditors, and conduct all the procedures stipulated under the Bankruptcy Law within 35 days from the date of the appointment notification.

The court further instructed each trustee to prepare an initial separate report on the assets of each entity and its rights with third parties, in addition to a list of all its managers and members of the board of directors and shareholders for the two years preceding the bankruptcy application. It sought the trustee’s opinion with respect to the management and the preservation of the company’s assets, seeking the initial report to be filed within two weeks.

Moreover, the court decided to stay all judicial procedures and execution procedures upon the companies' assets until approving the restructuring plan or the lapse of 10 months from the date of the decision to open the bankruptcy proceedings. Moreover, each trustee shall submit a request to the court on the contractual and legal interests.

The court decided to schedule a hearing on July 26 to follow up on the procedures taken by the trustees and instructed the head of the trustees’ committee to convene a preliminary meeting with the trustees and the court within one week for presenting the work plan by each trustee.

The company will announce any developments related to the trustees' work by sending periodical reports thereof.

On Dec. 17, 2020, Arabtec and certain subsidiaries filed for liquidation, according to the shareholders’ resolutions passed at the general assembly meeting held on Nov. 30, 2020, Argaam reported.

On Jan. 7, 2021, the developer filed a request to start the bankruptcy procedures before Dubai court.