Mecca developer Jabal Omar Development Company has announced it will seek to transform the firm into a holding company amid financial difficulties.

In a statement released on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) after a board meeting on 11 February, the firm laid out the strategy for what it has called a 10-year plan.

Jabal Omar said the plan will be made up of three key steps.

First, will be the transformation of the developer into a holding company in order to allow for ”acquisitions outside of existing projects”.

Second, will be what the firm has called a ”geographic expansion,” although the statement provided no further information on which other markets the company would be interested in.

Third, will be a a “long-term leasing and sales strategy to improve the company’s cash-flow.”

The news comes as the developer struggles with financial difficulties, which is currently in talks with lenders after failing to make a $173m loan repayment on 1 January.

On 1 February, the company said it failed to meet the first payment of an $800m state loan at the beginning of the year.

Jabal Omar, which is currently developing a number of projects in the Jabal Omar district near the holy mosque in Mecca, also said it plans to use a $240m credit facility from a local bank to cover the repayment. The company currently has long-term debt of more than $2bn.