Agility to challenge the decision that may find them evicted from its sites: Kuwait’s warehousing and industrial developer Agility will challenge a decision by the Kuwaiti Court of Appeal that has ruled in favor of the Public Authority of Industry, which could force Agility to vacate its warehouse plots of land in Sulaibiyah, the company said in a Boursa Kuwait disclosure (pdf). The dispute revolves around a contract from 2003, concerning a land area in Doha Kuwait of 941k square meters.

The ruling: The court’s ruling rejected Agility’s case, which argued that the court prevent the PAI from interfering with Agility’s use of the area until a final judgment is ruled on the related lawsuit, according to the disclosure.

What’s being disputed? The land plot is one of five contested by the Kuwaiti government, which together constitute roughly 3.5% of the company’s consolidated revenues (KWD 43 mn), according to an earlier disclosure. The land houses some of the company’s warehousing facilities, which it leases out to customers, according to its website. The book value of these areas accounts for approximately 6% of the company’s total assets, according to Agility’s website.

Background: Earlier this year, media reports suggested that the PAI may request Agility to vacate certain areas within a week. However, Agility claimed that it had not received any official notification from either PAI or any government entity. The Kuwaiti Court of appeal later ruled in favor of PAI, overturning a contractual decision that provided that Agility and PAI had a contractual relationship for a period of twenty years from 1 January 2023 till 31 December 2042.

What’s the impact on Agility? The impact “can’t be assessed at the moment,” the company said, adding that it plans to challenge the decision in the court of cassation, according to the disclosure. If the court rules in PAI’s favor to evict Agility from the site, Agility will lose the revenues it derives from the site, the disclosure adds.

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