Finished $16 billion recovery from crisis, says Dubai’s Nakheel

State-owned property developer Nakheel, which was at the centre of Dubai’s debt crisis in 2009, has finished recovering from a $16 billion debt restructuring by repaying an Islamic bond this month, its chairman said on Monday.

Ali Rashid Lootah told a small group of reporters that Nakheel had transferred funds for repayment of a 4.4 billion dirham ($1.2 billion) sukuk issue maturing this month. “We are closing the restructuring file,” he said. “We are a debt-free company as of yesterday.”

Nakheel was one of the developers worst hit by Dubai’s real estate crash at the turn of the decade, forcing the firm into a massive debt restructuring. A strong rebound in the property sector then allowed the company to pay off its debt and although the real estate market has now turned down again, the slump is not nearly as deep as the 2009 crash.