UAE contractor Arabtec Holding has filed for insolvency less than three months after its liquidation was approved by shareholders.

Arabtec’s statement to the Dubai Financial Market said “certain of its subsidiaries” were also involved in the insolvent liquidation.

The contractor reaffirmed its liquidation plans earlier this month, after holding a general assembly and board meeting on 30 November.

Shareholders voted to liquidate the contractor on 30 September, after Arabtec’s first-half net loss of AED794m ($216m) in 2020.

Total accumulated losses at the time equalled AED1.46bn, and the first-half performance followed a net loss of AED774m in 2019.

It was Arabtec’s first full-year loss since 2016.

Prior to its liquidation vote, Arabtec had said in August it would look to dispose of non-core assets to improve liquidity. 

Arabtec is understood to have asked banks for a three-month standstill on oil, gas and marine contracting subsidiary Target Engineering’s debt repayments in October.

Target was viewed by Arabtec as a sustainable business that could survive the wider group’s collapse if creditors agreed to a standstill.  

Arabtec took majority ownership (60 per cent) of Target in November 2007, and was said in 2013 to have completed the purchase of 38 per cent additional stake in the company.

At the time, it was reported that the remaining 2 per cent of Target would be held by its management team.