Economic court sequesters Al Hayat TV’s trademarks for failing to repay debts to MBC

An economic court issued a ruling on Thursday to sequester Al Hayat TV’s trademarks due to the network failing to repay USD 6 mn of debts owed to MBC, Al Mal reported. MBC had raised a lawsuit after Al Hayat had fallen behind on its debt repayments to the Saudi network, according to the newspaper. The ruling threatens the EGP 1.4 bn acquisition of Al Hayat by Tawassol for Public Relations in September, as the trademarks were a “core element” of the transaction. Al Hayat’s debts had surpassed EGP 1 bn over the previous few months.