Kuwait’s Global Investment Proposes $433 Mln Debt-For-Equity Plan

Global Investment House, the Kuwaiti investment firm undergoing its second debt restructuring in three years, will ask shareholders to approve a debt-for-equity swap which will see creditors own 70 percent of the company.

Under the proposal, to be put to shareholders on September 2 annual general meeting, Global will offer 122.2 million dinars($432.87 million) of new shares to creditors, it said in a statement posted on the Dubai stock exchange.

The capital increase will result in creditors owning 69.98 percent of the firm’s equity.

The meeting will also seek nod to write off accumulated losses worth 31.1 million dinars against its current share premium and a further 77.1 million dinars from its existing paid-up capital, Global said.

Global, which counts the governments of Kuwait and Dubai as major shareholders, asked bank creditors in September to suspend payments on a $1.7 billion plan agreed in 2009.

Reuters