DUBAI: SHUAA Capital on Sunday said it bought Stanford Marine Group’s (SMG) AED1.13 billion (US$308 million) debt, WAM reported.
SMG is a key offshore services company in the Middle East that focuses on chartering, building and repairing offshore support vessels for the oil and gas industry.
Since 2019, SHUAA Capital has been working with SMG’s lending syndicate and their advisors to arrive at a buyout deal. The restructuring strengthens SMG’s liquidity position.
The restructuring has helped save more than 1,800 jobs, and annual exports of close to $20 million worth of (Made in UAE) vessels at Grandweld shipyard’s facility in Dubai Maritime City.
Jassim Alseddiqi, CEO of SHUAA Capital, said, “Despite the COVID-19 lockdowns last year, we continued to lead discussions with the SMG lenders’ advisors and worked collaboratively to reflect the changing needs of the consortium while finding a viable solution that worked in the best interest of all parties involved. We believe this to be one of the few restructuring transactions in recent times to successfully address all stakeholder needs and we hope that this will serve as a template for further such transactions.”
Elias Nassif, CEO of Standford Marine Group, said, “SHUAA Capital has managed to pull off a complex restructuring programme, effectively giving the company a new lease of life. We are excited and hopeful of growth under the direction of a world-class management team and with the strong support of our employees and shareholders.”
This investment is part of the Private Markets activity of SHUAA Capital and is held as a co-investment vehicle.
The investment is expected to generate management fee and performance fee income to SHUAA Capital, in addition to the investment return on its principal investment position.