Troubled construction giant Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) plans to hire additional advisers “to accelerate one of the Middle East’s biggest corporate-debt revamps and tackle its estimated $15 billion debt pile,” Bloomberg reports.
SBG “reached out to restructuring specialists across the Persian Gulf to assist with reorganizing the business,” Bloomberg reports, citing a spokesman for the company.
The consultants will assist Houlihan Lokey Inc., which was appointed in April to manage the group’s turnaround.
Saudi Arabia, through the Ministry of Finance, took a 36.2% stake in SBG’s parent, Binladin International Holding Group Co.
In late 2017, the Saudi government, through a Finance-ministry controlled company, took a 36.22% stake in SBG, from Bin Laden family members that were swept up in an anti-graft campaign that Riyadh launched in late 2017, Reuters reports. Doing so drastically reduced the influence of Bin Laden family members in the company.
SBG was once the go-to builder for mega-projects in the Kingdom, but the company’s hard times were triggered by a crane collapse in Mecca that killed over 100 people and caused the pausing of all work by the company.
Two of the company’s top executives were also swept up in Saudi Arabia’s 2017 crackdown on corruption.
As Bloomberg notes, the company has since overhauled its top management, including the appointment of a new group managing director, chief executive officer and head of its real estate unit.
The company hopes to play a part in Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification plans. “The renewed SBG is expected to play a vital role in the construction of the kingdom’s economy and be part of Saudi Arabia’s overall growth story in line with Vision 2030,” the company said, according to Bloomberg.
