Alinma Investment says no prior deal with Jabal Omar to stop rental payment

Alinma Investment Co., the fund manager of Alinma Makkah Real Estate Fund, said that there was no prior deal with Jabal Omar Development Co.’s decision to suspend rental payment and the decision was not consistent with the legal terms and conditions of the contracts.

In a statement to Tadawul, the fund manager said that an individual party could not invoke the application of the provisions of exceptional circumstances or force majeure.

In addition, the fund’s board of directors will assess the damages suffered by Jabal Omar due to the government’s precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, based on documents submitted by the tenant as well as financial evidence of its inability to fulfil contractual obligations.

On April 30, Alinma Investment called upon Jabal Omar to provide the necessary financial evidence to be able to propose solutions to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the fund’s tenants to be examined.

On May 19, Jabal Omar decided to suspend rental payment from May to November 2020, amounting to SAR 270 million and invoking force majeure resulting from COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision comes due to lack of revenues generated from hotels and retail properties rented from Alinma Makkah Real Estate Fund from the date of implementing precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.