DP World’s $5.15bn dividend to #Dubai World is credit positive for #UAE banks - The National

DP World’s $5.15bn dividend to Dubai World is credit positive for UAE banks - The National:

The Port and Free Zone World (PFZW) and DP World’s planned $5.15 billion (Dh18.91bn) dividend to Dubai World will be credit positive for UAE banks, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Dubai World is expected to use the money to repay around $5bn of the nearly $11bn in restructured debt it owes to UAE lenders and international investors.

“We expect varying credit-positive effects among creditor banks depending on whether and how much they contribute to financing the new $9bn of PFZW debt guaranteed by DP World,” Moody’s said. “For creditor banks that do not extend financing to DP World, the debt repayment would result in a net reduction in their exposure to the Dubai World Group, which is credit positive.”

Earlier this week, PFZW, which owns 80.45 per cent of DP World, offered DP World to buy out the 19.55 per cent of shares owned by the company's minority shareholders for around $2.7bn. The transaction would give PFZW full ownership of DP World, which will then be delisted from Nasdaq Dubai.