GFH Financial Group dispute success raises share value

The arbitration, originally filed at the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution in 2013, pertains to GFH’s investment in the North Gate Economic City in Saudi Arabia.

Shares in the Bahrain-based investment firm GFH Financial Group rose 2 per cent in Dubai yesterday following a successful dispute resolution against Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH).

GFH said in a statement on the Dubai Financial Market that it had been awarded 250 million Saudi riyals (Dh244.7m) by a Bahrain-based arbitration ­panel.

The arbitration, originally filed at the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR) in 2013, pertains to GFH’s investment in the North Gate Economic City in Saudi Arabia, and includes US$229,600 of legal fees, plus interest ­payments.

The arbitration ruling cannot be appealed. The ruling comes 12 months after the BCDR awarded GFH $11.47m in a separate legal case against ADIH, relating to GFH’s investment in Qatar Entertainment City. The full award amount was collected in January last year.

ADIH is run by the GFH founder Esam Janahi’s brother Rashad.

GFH and ADIH have collaborated on a series of other projects in locations including Morocco, Kuwait and India, as well as GFH’s ill-fated acquisition of the English football club Leeds United in 2012.

GFH did not respond to a request for comment on whether there are further legal disputes between the two entities.

Officials at ADIH could not be reached for comment.

GFH last month announced that it had abandoned plans to delist from the Kuwait stock exchange, following changes introduced to local listing rules by the country’s Capital Markets Authority.

The planned move had been a way for GFH to focus trading of its shares on its home market and Dubai, its main secondary market.

The move would also have potentially saved on the costs of the listing and eliminate any possible arbitrage opportunities and incidences of violating rules in Kuwait that contradict regulations in its home market, GFH said in September.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter