Kuwait’s Investment Dar Gets A Third Of Creditors To Accept Deal

The indebted Kuwaiti shareholder of British luxury carmaker Aston Martin has persuaded just under a third of its creditors to accept a debt restructuring deal that offers them shares in a portfolio of its assets, its financial advisor said on Wednesday.

The Investment Dar is among other Kuwaiti banks and investment firms to overextend in the years up to 2008 and then struggle to refinance debt as the global economic crisis hit the Gulf state.

The sharia-compliant investor defaulted on a $100 million Islamic bond payment in 2009, leading it to restructure around $3.7 billion in debt two years later.

Investment bank Houlian Lokey said 29 per cent of Investment Dar’s creditors took up the offer. Under the deal, creditors settled claims at a 62.6 per cent discount in exchange for cash, debt and equity held by a vehicle based in Jersey, the bank said in an email.

In May, Investment Dar said creditors which did not want to take part in the offer could retain their claims under an original restructuring plan, which offered creditors a 10 per cent stake.