Arise

Kuwait, June 2023: KPMG in Kuwait successfully conducted its event ‘Arise — Turnaround and Restructuring in turbulent times’ at the Four Seasons Hotel, Kuwait. The hybrid event aimed to unite organizations and experts alike to facilitate open discussions around turnaround and restructuring strategies, preventing and/or overcoming insolvency, and stakeholder management. 

The event was kickstarted by Bruce Matthews, Partner — Deal Advisory, KPMG Lower Gulf, and Head of KPMG’s Turnaround and Restructuring Practice in the region. Bruce addressed the audience on how they can achieve a business turnaround and highlighted that while turnaround and restructuring strategies are paramount for the restoration of an underperforming business, they are not seen in a positive light as should be the case, especially considering that such strategies can prove to be impactful for stable businesses too.

Bruce was later joined by Imran Shaik, Director — Deal Advisory, KPMG in Kuwait. The duo engaged in a dialog on how organizations can evaluate their business ecosystem, assess their current state, prioritize the pain points and arrive at the necessary considerations based on that.

Commenting on the session, Imran said, “The environment in which businesses operate is becoming increasingly complex and volatile. Rapidly evolving technologies, unstable geopolitical climate and changing regulatory policies as well as factors such as strategy, processes and people issues can create business disruption. When a company finds its performance deteriorating from a growth, profitability, liquidity or solvency perspective, it needs to carry out a rapid diagnostic assessment to identify the root causes and accordingly develop a turnaround plan to revive the business and work toward its long-term sustainability.”

In the following session, Tarek Yehya, Partner — Meysan Partners, elucidated concerns pertaining to the Bankruptcy Law in Kuwait and presented some of the key protections and procedures necessary for organizations in the event of financial distress. Tarek emphasized that as uncertainty becomes more foreseeable, it is important for organizations to familiarize themselves with Kuwait’s insolvency structure and educate themselves on the nitty-gritty of the Bankruptcy Law.

The highlight of the event was a panel discussion among Abdullah Al-Shatti, Chief Executive Officer of A’ayan Leasing and Investment, Sunny Bhatia, Group Chief Financial Officer of KIPCO Group, Mahmood Helal, Deputy General Manager for Credit Risk at Kuwait Finance House, and Bruce Matthews from KPMG. The session primarily touched on stakeholder management and the potential impact it can have on the restructuring process as well as its outcome. This session was ably moderated by Ankul Aggarwal, Partner and Head of Deal Advisory, KPMG in Kuwait.

The event was well-attended with audience joining both online and in person.

Closing the event, Ankul Aggarwal said, “I am thankful to the panelists for making the event insightful, the guests for taking the time out to attend, and to everyone who helped make the event a success. I hope we were able to answer some of the questions surrounding turnaround and restructuring services, the bankruptcy law and banking, among other topics, through this event. However, one session may not be enough to comprehend the complexities of their overall ecosystems. These topics require a lot of discussions and openness from the end of clients and we encourage everyone to continue these conversations beyond the scope of this event.”