Al Habtoor Holding agrees to exit Habtoor Leighton Group

United Arab Emirates-based Al Habtoor Holding LLC has agreed to exit the joint venture construction company, Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG), according to a statement from the parent company, CIMIC Group.

CIMIC said in the statement issued to the Australian Stock Exchange, that it had entered into a binding agreement with its two joint venture partners in HLG which "will enable one of the shareholders, Al Habtoor Holding LLC to transfer its shares to another partner Riad Al Sadik, subject to execution of final documentation."

Al Sadik is also the co-founder of Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises and has served as chairman of HLG since 2007. The statement added that CIMIC’s shareholding will remain unchanged.

CIMIC also said it will undertake a “strategic review of the HLG business” as a result of the change in ownership.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement CIMIC said that HLG’s chief executive José Antonio López-Monís, who was detained in Dubai earlier this month, has been “released from custody without bail or any other conditions.” 

López-Monís has not been charged with any offence and HLG’s operations will continue as normal, said the statement.

HLG is a diversified contractor that was formed in 2007 when Al Habtoor Engineering merged with Gulf Leighton, part of CIMIC Group — Australia’s biggest contracting group.

HLG's projects in the UAE include the Burj Al Arab hotel, Kempinski Hotel & Residences at Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Pearl, and St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi.