* Says to cancel $80 mln of its holding in sukuk
* Sukuk holders to receive partial payment in cash
* Remaining amount to be split into two sukuk
* Dana shares suspended on Abu Dhabi bourse
DUBAI, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Dana Gas Co, the first
UAE company to fail to meet a bond redemption, said on Wednesday
it reached an “in principle” restructuring agreement with
creditors to repay the $1 billion Islamic bond, or sukuk.
Natural gas producer Dana, headquartered in the emirate of
Sharjah, said in a statement that it will cancel $80 million of
the Islamic bond currently held by the company and sukuk holders
will receive a partial paydown in cash from Dana.
It did not say how much cash it was paying bond holders. The
remaining amount of the sukuk will be split between a new
ordinary sukuk and a new convertible one with revised economic
terms, Dana said. It did not provide additional details.
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement, which we
believe best preserves the interests of all stakeholders,” Dana
Chairman Adel Khalid Al-Sabeeh said in the statement.
The company said it had entered into a standstill agreement
with the creditors committee. The sukuk matured on Oct. 31. Dana
repurchased about $80 million of the sukuk in 2008, leaving
$920 million outstanding.
Dana’s problems started after the company was hit by payment
delays on the gas it supplies to Egypt and Iraq’s Kurdistan
region. Its shares have slumped on the Abu Dhabi bourse since
Reuters reported last week that the company was set to miss the
repayment deadline.
The sukuk is said to be held by large investment firms like
BlackRock Inc and Ashmore Group.
In a separate statement, the Abu Dhabi bourse halted trading
in Dana Gas shares.
