UAE: NMC reveals US$6.6bn of debt

NMC’s ongoing troubles continue as it reveals its debt position has grown to US$6.6bn as it appoints a new chief restructuring officer.

As reported on 12 March, NMC had previously admitted to US$5bn of debt after discovering more than US$2.7bn in debt previously unknown to the board. This was on top of the US$2.1bn debt reported at the end of June last year.

Since then, NMC has verified that a further US$0.3bn is currently outstanding which relates to facilities which were known to the board at the time. A further US$0.8bn of newly identified facilities, which were at the time undisclosed and unapproved by the board, and an additional US$0.4bn of facilities entered into since June have also been found.

In a statement, NMC said it is continuing to work with its advisers to understand the exact nature of the undisclosed facilities.

‘The board believes that some of proceeds may have been utilised for non-group purposes and work is commencing on a project to trace such proceeds with a view to considering what actions may be available to the group to recover such monies,’ it said.

NMC has also appointed Matthew Wilde as its chief restructuring officer. A restructuring expert, he used to lead PwC’s corporate finance and restructuring practice in the Middle East.