A #Saudi family feud, a decade-long debt saga and a court's $14 billion decision - Reuters

A Saudi family feud, a decade-long debt saga and a court's $14 billion decision - Reuters:

Saudi Arabia’s largest and longest debt saga, fueled by a feud that has split one of its richest families, could be nearing a resolution after a court approved about $14 billion in claims related to the collapse of two business empires a decade ago.

The Saudi court has accepted more than $7 billion in claims from creditors against the Algosaibi family’s conglomerate AHAB, and about $6.5 billion against tycoon Maan al-Sanea and his company Saad Group, two court documents seen by Reuters showed.

The Algosaibis and Sanea - who married into the Algosaibi family - have been locked into a bitter dispute over who was to blame for the 2009 collapse of the companies.

Both sides deny wrongdoing, but the demise of the two companies nonetheless left dozens of local and international banks with billions of dollars of unpaid debt.

A court-driven end to the saga would not only offer some relief to those creditors, but more broadly would be an important sign to international investors, as the cases would be resolved under a new bankruptcy law introduced in 2018 as part of reforms aimed at making the kingdom more investor friendly.

The Dammam Commercial Court last week approved more than $7 billion of claims against AHAB (Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Bros.) out of nearly $12 billion in total claims listed, according to one of the documents seen by Reuters.

In December the court approved around $6.5 billion of claims against Sanea and Saad out of nearly $18 billion of listed claims, excluding those filed by the group’s employees, according to a separate document.