Air Arabia PJSC appointed a team of experts to ensure its investment in funds managed by Abraaj Group Ltd. is protected as the Dubai-based private equity firm battles creditors. The shares dropped for a second day.
“As part of the Air Arabia Group investment portfolio, the carrier has an investment in Abraaj funds,” the Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-based airline said in a statement, without providing financial details. The team of experts is “actively engaged with all stakeholders and creditors involved with the matter.”
Abraaj’s founder Arif Naqvi is an Air Arabia board member, according to stock market filings.
Abraaj, once one of the developing world’s most influential investors, last week filed for a court-supervised restructuring as it fights allegations of misused funds. The move comes less than five months after some of its investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, commissioned an audit to investigate the alleged mismanagement of money in Abraaj’s healthcare fund.
Since then, the company, which once managed almost $14 billion for institutions and supranational agencies, has faced growing concerns about its viability. Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security earlier this month filed a petition for the liquidation and winding up of Abraaj Holdings after it defaulted on a $100 million loan. A second creditor, Auctus Fund Ltd., also filed a petition in the Cayman Islands.
Air Arabia shares fell as much as 3.8 percent in Dubai after declining 7.1 percent on Monday. The trading volume was about 10 times the 30-day average.
