The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has appointed representatives from UK-based PwC and US-based Deloitte as joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) for Dubai-based Abraaj Holdings (AH) and Abraaj Investment Management Limited (AIML), respectively.

The appointments on 18 June seek to ensure that stakeholders’ rights are protected as the firm implements a $1bn restructuring plan.

“The court-supervised restructuring of AH will have minimum impact on the day-to-day operations of the management of the funds and their portfolio companies,” Abraaj said in a statement.

MEED understands the JPLs are granted “extensive powers” for the protection and management of Abraaj’s assets, including maintaining oversight of board and management activities.

Abraaj said its creditors have “provided full support for the JPLs to work alongside the company to formulate and implement a restructuring of the company’s liabilities”.

The court appointment comes 11 days before a Cayman Islands court is scheduled to hear the Kuwait pension fund’s petition to appoint US-based FTI Consulting as liquidator of Abraaj Holding for non-payment of a $100m debt.

Boston-based Auctus Fund has also asked for the liquidation of AIML, the firm’s asset management arm, due to an outstanding debt of over $100m.

Auctus Fund’s petition follows an independent auditor’s report that Abraaj commingled an estimated $95m after it faced cash shortages.

Money from Abraaj’s $1bn healthcare fund was used to pay management fees and other expenses, a report by US-based Deloitte found, although the audit firm ruled out embezzlement or misappropriation.

An earlier audit conducted by Netherlands-based KPMG found “no misuse of funds” following allegations by high profile investors led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that the $1bn healthcare fund had been diverted.

On 18 June, Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia said it appointed advisors to “protect its investment in Abraaj”. The publicly listed carrier has not disclosed the value of its investment in the firm. Abraaj founder and CEO Arif Naqvi is one of Air Arabia’s board of directors.

Air Arabia’s stock price plummeted by 7.08 per cent by close of trading on 18 June.

Prior to this crisis, Abraaj was considered one of the developing world’s most influential investors, managing close to $14bn for institutions and agencies from the US, UK and other countries.

In 2017, Abraaj sold its shares in UAE-based ride-hailing firm Careem to Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding. A year earlier, it sold its 80 per cent shareholding in Jordan Aircraft Maintenance (Joramco) to Dubai Aerospace Enterprises (DAE).