Friday July 31, 04:18 PM
UPDATE 1-Cayman court freezes $9.2 bln of Saad assets
By Tom Freke and Souhail Karam
LONDON/RIYADH, July 31 (Reuters) - A Cayman Islands court has frozen $9.2 billion of assets belonging to Saad Group, the Saudi Arabian investment firm at the centre of a financial storm, including some of its equity stakes outside the Gulf.
The ruling followed a complaint filed by Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company (AHAB), which is locked in a legal tussle in the United States with Maan al-Sanea, the billionaire owner of Saad Group.
The two heavily indebted family-owned conglomerates are both in restructuring talks with their creditors, negotiations complicated by court cases filed by different parties .
The Saad Group said the Cayman Islands court ruling was part of a 'baseless' campaign against it by AHAB.
AHAB was not immediately available to comment.
The July 24 ruling named 43 defendants including Cayman-registered Saad Investments Company Limited (SICL), owner of many of Saad's equity stakes outside the Gulf.
'An injunction is granted against the ... defendants prohibiting disposal of assets worldwide, for the appointment of receivers, and the ancillary and collateral relief set out in the form of the draft order,' the ruling said.
WITHOUT FOUNDATION
Saad Group said in a statement late on Thursday the claims made by AHAB in its application to the Cayman court had no foundation, were made before a full investigation had taken place and without full information.
'AHAB's application for the Cayman orders represents a continuation of the baseless, yet public, campaign it has chosen to wage,' Saad Group said.
'Saad itself is working hard with its creditors to determine a fair resolution across the board of all current difficulties,' the statement said.
The court order -- which can be enforced only in the Cayman Islands, England and Wales, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- was made at a hearing without notice to the defendants, with each given the right to respond.
The companies affected include the group's airline, Saad Air, as well as Singularis Holdings, which bought a 3 percent stake in HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) in 2007.
Saad's stake now totals about 2 percent, analysts at Cazenove said in June, with a current value of about 2 billion pounds ($3.31 billion).
Saad has also bought stakes in Petra Diamonds (LSE: BMG702781094.L - news) , Imagination Tech, Accsys Technologies (LSE: AXS.L - news) , Reneuron Group (LSE: RENE.L - news) and Eatonfield Group (LSE: EFD.L - news) .
Lenders to Saad are considering making a claim over some of its assets, Reuters reported last week, with banks owed up to $2.8 billion by SICL, and as much as $15 billion in total.
Bahrain's central bank said on Thursday it has seized two banks belonging to AHAB and Saad Group, in the latest move to manage the fallout from their financial troubles
($1=.6045 Pound)
(Editing by Erica Billingham) Keywords: SAAD/
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