Administrators have been appointed to the UAE operations of NMC Healthcare, five months after its parent company NMC Health was placed into administration in the UK.
The move will allow the company to raise funds and pay the salaries of its employees.
Richard Fleming and Ben Cairns of Alvarez & Marsal were appointed as joint administrators to a group of 36 trading entities in the country following a hearing in the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Courts. The appointment allows for a financial restructuring that will see $325m in additional funding provided to the businesses. The appointment does not apply to any of NMC Healthcare’s operating businesses outside the UAE.
“This is a positive next step in NMC’s restructuring process, allowing us to address the financial challenges we’ve faced since the fraud was uncovered earlier this year. NMC is a strong business operationally and we will continue to function as usual and care for our patients through the administration period," the company's acting chief executive Michael Davis said.
"The financial restructuring will offer additional security to the company and allow us to continue to contribute effectively to the healthcare system in the UAE."
During the hearing, counsel for the companies argued that the appointment of administrators was necessary to secure additional funding so that the company could meet its payroll obligations later this month. Some $250m of the additional funding is being provided by the group's largest creditor, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, with the remainder coming from HSBC, Emirates Islamic Bank and New York-based Sculptor Capital Management. A creditors' committee of 10 banks, which hold $2.8bn of the outstanding debt and representing banks holding a further $2.2bn, expressed their support for the deal, the court heard. The group of companies have total debts outstanding of about $6.8bn.
“This is a ‘light touch’ administration that will protect NMC from aggressive creditor action whilst bringing new funding and addressing the level of debt in the business," said Richard Fleming, joint administrator and managing director of Alvarez & Marsal.
"As part of the administration, the administrators have arranged $325m of additional financing to ensure we have sufficient funds to support the business through the Covid-19 disruptions and financial restructuring process. All hospitals, medical centres, care facilities and other operations in the group affected by the administration will continue to operate as they have to date.”
NMC Healthcare is the UAE's biggest private healthcare company with about 15,000 employees and revenue of $1.6bn. Its London-listed parent was placed into administration in April this year after several months of upheaval that began in December last year after US-based activist investor Muddy Waters alleged the company had inflated its cash balances and understated its debts. This led to the appointment of external investigators including a company led by a former director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations, Louis Freeh.
Investigations found that NMC Health's debts were materially higher than declared in its accounts. They also highlighted "suspected fraudulent behaviour" at the company.
Administrators Alvarez and Marsal set out a three-year turnaround plan with Mr Davis last month, which involved putting its UAE operations into administration through the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Courts to fend off creditor claims and raising additional funding from lenders to allow its UAE and Oman operations to continue to operate. The company currently operates in 12 countries, but other entities in Spain, the UK and elsewhere have been deemed non-core and will be sold or closed.
Over 80 major local, regional and international financial institutions extended credit to NMC, which was founded by BR Shetty in Abu Dhabi in 1975.
“I want to thank all NMC employees, medical staff and physicians for the extraordinary commitment they have continued to demonstrate as we navigated through these difficult months together," Mr Davis said. "I also want to thank our suppliers, insurers and UAE healthcare regulators for the patience and support they have shown to NMC."
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
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Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
MATCH RESULT
Liverpool 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Liverpool: Salah (26'), Lovren (40'), Solanke (53'), Robertson (85')
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams
Dh600,000 - Dubai Exiles' budget for pitch and court hire next season, for their rugby, netball and cricket teams
Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Rain Management
Year started: 2017
Based: Bahrain
Employees: 100-120
Amount raised: $2.5m from BitMex Ventures and Blockwater. Another $6m raised from MEVP, Coinbase, Vision Ventures, CMT, Jimco and DIFC Fintech Fund
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
SPEC%20SHEET
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