Saad Unit Lenders Meet, Liquidators Appointed


Creditors of Saad Investments Company Ltd (SICL) held their first official meeting on Thursday, accountancy firm Grant Thornton said, taking a next step in the troubled firm's restructuring process, Reuters reported. Banks are seeking repayment of a loan of up to $2.8 billion taken out in 2007 by Cayman Islands-registered SICL, a unit of Saudi investment firm Saad Group. Regulators and bankers are grappling with up to $22 billion of debt restructurings at Saad and a second Saudi firm, Algosaibi, viewed by some as the biggest financial blow to the region since the global credit crisis began. The two groups are involved in a complex legal dispute, and Algosaibi has asked a New York court for a default judgement against the billionaire head of Saad, Maan al-Sanea, over allegations he defrauded the company out of $10 billion. Read more.