DUBAI – DUBAI World, which rocked markets across the globe in late 2009 with its debt woes, announced on Wednesday that it has signed a final agreement to restructure US$14.7 billion (S$19 billion) of debt.

The government-owned conglomerate announced in September that it has reached an agreement with 99 per cent of its lenders on a proposal to restructure US$24.9 billion of debt.

The final agreement restructures all Dubai World’s liabilities with some 80 creditors, the Dubai government office said, adding the group’s assets had ‘appreciated over past months’ on the back of a relative global recovery.

It said Dubai World will divide its liabilities into two tranches, with US$4.4 billion to be repaid in five years and the remaining US$10.3 billion to mature in eight years.

The government of the formerly booming Gulf city state announced last year that it will convert US$8.9 billion of financial support for Dubai World into equity.

The southern Gulf emirate, a regional business, leisure and tourism hub, rocked global financial markets in November 2009 when it announced a freeze in debt repayments by Dubai World, its largest group. — AFP