ABU DHABI: 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 yesterday.
Trading in shares of Amlak, which is in the process of restructuring debt that sources put at nearly $2bn, 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 Dh7bn ($1.9bn) of debt, sources said. “We are progressing well on that one (restructuring),” Al Mansouri said. Reuters
