UAE's Tabreed fully repays $200M Islamic bond

UAE’s Tabreed fully repays $200M Islamic bond

Cooling firm Tabreed, which received funding earlier this year from state-owned Mubadala to restructure debt, said it fully repaid a $200 million Islamic bond or sukuk maturing on Wednesday.

July 20, 2011 10:40 by Reuters

Cooling firm Tabreed, which received funding earlier this year from state-owned Mubadala to restructure debt, said it fully repaid a $200 million Islamic bond or sukuk maturing on Wednesday.

The sukuk was launched in 2006 and the total amount paid to certificate holders of the bond was AED735 million, Tabreed said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The repayment of the ’06 sukuk today was contemplated in our structuring of the recapitalisation program and improves the company’s overall financial position,” Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Tabreed’s chairman said in the statement.

Dubai-listed Tabreed, formally called National Cooling Company, is among several Gulf companies which has to restructure its debt after an economic boom, fuelled by record-high oil prices and easy credit, ended abruptly and caused a property market crash.

In March, the firm secured an extra AED3.1 billion ($844.2 million) funding from state-owned fund Mubadala, helping it to tackle its debt pile.

It appointed Mubadala’s chief operating officer Al Muhairi as its new chairman in May, replacing Khadem Al Qubaisi who stepped down from the board. ($1 = 3.673 UAE Dirhams) (Reporting by Dinesh Nair, Editing by Shaheen Pasha)