Cellucom closes its doors in UAE amid legal row

Mobile phone retailer Cellucom has closed all its outlets across the UAE as it faces liquidation and a court case with its majority shareholder Al Rostamani Group. The company had more than 25 retail stores in the UAE as part of a network of 500 shops in the Middle East, Africa and India.

Stores outside of the UAE have not been affected by the legal dispute

Al Rostamani Group holds a 51 per cent share of the retail firm and said it had filed for liquidation of Cellucom FZCO and Cellucom LLC in June 2009.

“Having reviewed Cellucom’s business and financial affairs, Al Rostamani Group concluded that the Cellucom companies could no longer sustain themselves as going concerns,” a statement said.

Al Rostamani’s application is awaiting a ruling from the Dubai Courts.

Cellucom has operations in Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, Kenya, Namibia and Tanzania. According to the UAE’s National newspaper, the firm’s chief executive left the UAE in March last year and is currently in Tanzania “continuing to expand the business”.

“More or less, the operation is closed down and it is in court now,” Sudhir Kamat, accounts director at Cellucom was quoted as saying.

Al Rostamani Group is based in Dubai and has an employee base of more than 5000, with companies in the automotive, travel and leisure, financial, real estate, engineering construction, environment, general trading and IT and communications sectors.