Amlak to resume trading by mid-year

The shares of indebted mortgage lender Amlak will resume trading on the Dubai bourse in the second half of this year, the United Arab Emirates’ economy minister said on Monday.

Trading in shares of Amlak, which is in the process of restructuring debt that sources put at nearly $2 billion, was suspended in November 2008 as credit markets dried up and Dubai real estate prices began a 50 percent fall from their peak.

“Our target is to list the company in the second half of this year,” economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Abu Dhabi.

Plans to merge with rival Tamweel, shares of which were also suspended in 2008, failed to materialise and Tamweel was delisted last year after its parent Dubai Islamic Bank acquired all of its mortgage affiliate.

Amlak, in which Emaar Properties has a 45 percent stake, has been in talks with a six-member creditor committee to address 7 billion dirhams ($1.9 billion) of debt, sources have told Reuters.

“We are progressing well on that one (restructuring). We have negotiated with creditors, they had their questions about rates, securities and period of repayment,” al-Mansouri said.

“We have a mutual agreement on that and the supreme committee has to meet to finalise.”

Dubai’s market has rebounded strongly over the past two years and the emirate this month successfully refinanced a $20 billion loan given by Abu Dhabi and the UAE central bank.-Reuters