KUWAIT'S GLOBAL INVESTMENT HOUSE RECAPITALIZES

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000599

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/IFD/OMA, EEB/EPPD
STATE PASS FEDERAL RESERVE
TREASURY FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN EINV ECON KU
SUBJECT: KUWAIT'S GLOBAL INVESTMENT HOUSE RECAPITALIZES

REF: KUWAIT 8

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- HANDLE ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) Summary: Kuwait's largest investment firm, Global
Investment House -- which faces almost $3 billion in short-
and mid-term liabilities -- announced plans June 15 to raise
approximately $523 million in a capital subscription.
Additionally, the company hopes to raise a further $730
million by selling off 30% of its proprietary assets. The
proceeds of these offerings will be used to repay a portion
of GIH's outstanding debt. GIH's CEO lamented the GOK's
failure to prop up the country's troubled investment sector.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) GIH announced a $523 million recapitalization at its
June 15 annual shareholders meeting. The announcement came a
week after the firm held two meetings with representatives of
53 banks involved in syndicated loans to the firm, at which
the creditors agreed to extend standstill agreements put in
place in January 2009, following the firm's December 2008
default (ref A). GIH CEO Bader Al-Sumait told Econoffs June
16 that the firm will also sell 30% of its proprietary assets
-- which were placed in a Macro Fund and conservatively
valued at $2.4 billion by PricewaterhouseCoopers -- with the
goal of raising approximately $730 million. Noting the
firm's ten-year track record, $7.4 billion under management,
presence in 14 countries, and positive shareholders' equity
of $1 billion, Al-Sumait voiced optimism that existing
shareholders and new investors will participate in both
offerings.

CEO LAMENTS GOK INACTION
--------------


2. (SBU) During the meeting with Econoffs, Al-Sumait lamented
the GOK's failure to support Kuwait's troubled investment
sector, attributing the problem above all to the Government's
perennial inability to articulate policy proposals and to
stand up to obstructionist parliamentarians. He said the
lack of GOK support in the investment sector stood in stark
contrast to interventionist policies pursued by Governments
in the U.S. and elsewhere in the past year. He also asserted
that none of Kuwait's investment companies would apply for
relief under the GOK's $5 billion financial stability law,
given the terms and fundamental weaknesses in the law's
provisos (septel).


3. (SBU) Comment: Six months after GIH's $200 million default
(ref A),the firm appears to have assuaged its creditors --
and assured its core shareholders -- of its long-term
financial viability. Kuwait's banks' unwillingness to lend
money in the current economic environment is clearly
hampering GIH's ability to raise new debt, contributing to
the firm's decision to rely on the $523 million capital hike
and sale of 30% of its core assets to enhance liquidity. End
Comment.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at:

http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it
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JONES