KUWAIT, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Kuwait's Global Investment House
said on Wednesday it had secured the full backing of
its creditors for its $1.7 billion restructuring plan.
The investment company and asset manager, undergoing its
second debt restructuring in three years, will separate its core
fee business from other parts of the company which would be spun
off into special purpose vehicles (SPV) under the plan.
Global was one of several Kuwaiti investment firms hit hard
by the global financial crisis, having used short-term debt to
invest heavily in local real estate and stocks whose values
later slumped.
Under the restructuring, Global plans to create two SPVs one
of which will hold company assets, along with debt, worth $1.3
billion.
The other vehicle will take part in a capital increase for
the parent company, in which Global will offer 122.2 million
dinars ($433 million) of new shares to creditors, leaving them
owning 70 percent of the investment firm.
Global's business after the deal will include asset
management, investment banking and brokerage operations, it said
in a statement.
Shares in the company were suspended from trading in Kuwait
last December after the company accumulated losses exceeding 75
percent of its capital. On Sunday shareholders approved the
delisting of the stock from the bourse.
(Reporting by Sylvia Westall and Dubai Newsroom; Editing by
Mike Nesbit)