Saudi Arabia's biggest construction company Binladin International Holding Group is seeking an advisor to help cut costs as well as restructure the debt of a skyscraper complex in the kingdom's Makkah city, reported Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter. 

 

Binladin had completed the $15 billion government-owned Abraj Al Beit golden clocktower complex in 2011. The development has seven towers of hotels and malls and looms over the Grand Mosque visited by millions of Muslim pilgrims every year, stated the report.

 

The 603-m-tall clock tower is the landmark feature of the complex, which was built to modernise the old city and provide accommodation and other facilities for pilgrims.

 

The move is part of efforts to restructure the construction group, after the government took a 35 per cent stake from Bin Laden family members that were swept up in an anti-graft campaign launched by Riyadh in late 2017.

 

Binladin said it was seeking proposals from advisers "on behalf of the shareholders in the Abraj Al Bait Complex" to review its operational and financial performance and to assess financial restructuring options, it said in a request for proposals in the document seen by Reuters.

 

The adviser would "review potential financing structures and options for implementation which may include rescheduling current loans, refinancing or other options taking into account any implications of changes in ownership structure," it added.