Tabreed to Consider Alternatives on Bond Payments

* username: rupertbu

National Central Cooling Co., the United Arab Emirates-based refrigeration company, said the board will this month consider “alternatives” to annual payments on 1.7 billion dirhams ($463 million) of Islamic bonds.

Board members will meet on April 25, it said in a statement to the Dubai bourse today, without providing details. The company, known as Tabreed, said March 8 it is seeking approval from shareholders to renegotiate terms on a $200 million floating-rate note and the local currency-denominated convertible sukuk maturing in 2011.

Tabreed is among Gulf Arab companies seeking to restructure debt after the global economic crisis dried up financing and brought a property boom to a halt. Dubai World, one the emirate’s three main state-owned holding companies, is negotiating with lenders to restructure $24.8 billion of debt after roiling global markets by proposing a freeze on loan repayments in November.