Regional news: Africa & Middle East
Teneo opens in the Middle East with AlixPartners hires
Teneo has launched a restructuring team in the Middle East with hires from AlixPartners, one week after it recruited pre-pack pioneer Jay Goffman in New York.
24 January 2022
Alvarez & Marsal hires new bank restructuring co-head from AlixPartners
AlixPartners’ head of distressed financial services has joined Alvarez & Marsal to co-lead its European bank restructuring practice in London, while the firm has also made nine promotions in its restructuring group around the world.
20 January 2022
Another Part 26A first as Smile Telecoms secures convening hearing for sole creditor
Pan-African telecoms group Smile Telecoms has won approval to convene a plan meeting for a single creditor after convincing the English High Court to employ a never-before-used tool to exclude other plan participants because they are out of the money.
12 January 2022
Offshore marine operator Ezion Holdings to wind down
Singapore-listed offshore marine operator Ezion Holdings says it plans to enter liquidation after an investment from a Malaysian energy infrastructure company fell through and it failed to complete a US$1.6 billion restructuring.
07 January 2022
AHAB loses “complex and arduous” Cayman fraud appeal
Saudi conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers has lost its appeal against a Cayman Islands court ruling that found it conspired with its former head of investment to “perpetrate one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history” – bringing an end to over 12 years of litigation.
22 December 2021
Kirkland advising as Smile Telecoms prepares new UK plan
African telecoms business Smile Telecoms is gearing up to launch another UK restructuring plan in the new year, with Kirkland & Ellis advising in place of Latham & Watkins.
20 December 2021
Kroll makes double hire in Middle East
Kroll has hired two senior members for its restructuring advisory practice in the UAE, from in-house roles within the Dubai government and for an Abu Dhabi sovereign private family.
16 November 2021
KPMG loses Abraaj jurisdictional challenge in DIFC first
KPMG, the former auditor of collapsed UAE private equity fund Abraaj, has lost a jurisdictional challenge to a professional negligence claim brought by two Abraaj subsidiaries – after a court in Dubai’s financial free zone found it had jurisdiction on a pure “necessary and proper” basis.
05 November 2021
What we know (so far) from GCC restructuring reforms
King & Spalding partner Mike Rainey in Dubai examines how recent reforms to the bankruptcy regimes in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are changing local markets – and identifies debt-for-equity swaps, non-performing loan transactions and the sale of healthy parts of a business in the context of restructuring as areas ripe for further development.
05 November 2021
Suspected Ponzi schemer’s bankruptcy recognised in New York
A New York bankruptcy court has recognised the Israeli insolvency proceedings of investment company EGFE Israel and its CEO – a “wanted” alleged fraudster who is suspected to be behind one of the largest Ponzi schemes in Israeli history.
03 November 2021