Command of contracts, capital, and counterparties when major projects stall or fracture.
Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery
Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery: Control Under Structural Stress
Handle leads complex infrastructure and construction turnarounds across the UAE and wider region, where stalled timelines, distressed contractors, and contested claims threaten capital, reputation, and continuity. We integrate disputes, financing, and restructuring into a single execution track, anchored in enforceable contracts and controlled cash flows.
From EPC and PPP mandates to multi-party joint ventures and sovereign-linked projects, we stabilise governance, reset risk allocation, and convert contentious positions into executable outcomes. One mandate, one timetable, one accountable partner directing law, capital, and recovery.
Our Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery Services: Built To Regain Control
Handle structures and executes recoveries on high-value infrastructure and construction assets, unifying claims strategy, contract enforcement, and capital restructuring. We move from crisis recognition to stabilisation and recovery with disciplined command of stakeholders, documentation, and timelines.
Project Standstill, Stabilisation & Governance Reset
Rapidly impose order through standstills, revised governance, and decision rights aligned to recovery.
Claims, Variations & Dispute-Driven Recovery
Structure and prosecute claims, variations, and counterclaims to release value and reset commercial balance.
Distressed Contractor, JV & Supply Chain Restructuring
Reconstruct failing contractors, JVs, and supply chains to protect delivery, security packages, and capital.
Capital, Security & Exit Strategy for Distressed Projects
Redesign capital stacks, collateral, and exit options to ring-fence exposure and secure recoveries.
Why Work with an Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery Expert
Large-scale projects under stress do not require optimism; they require control. Handle enters when milestones slip, claims escalate, and counterparties weaponise contracts, using law and capital structure to restore leverage and direction.
Our model unifies contract enforcement, dispute strategy, and balance sheet decisions, ensuring boards and sponsors act from a position of evidence and jurisdictional strength. The outcome is defined: contain loss, recover value, and re-establish execution discipline.
- Deep UAE infrastructure, construction, and PPP contract experience
- Integrated dispute, claims, and arbitration strategy across FIDIC and bespoke forms
- Capital-side capability to renegotiate facilities, covenants, and security
- Restructuring of JVs, contractors, and subcontractor hierarchies to maintain delivery
- Asset and award enforcement across onshore UAE, DIFC, and ADGM
- Institutional reporting and governance structures that withstand scrutiny
Better Ask Handle
Why Choose Us to Handle Your Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery
High-value infrastructure and construction mandates demand a firm that operates at the intersection of contracts, capital, and regulators. We enter under pressure, impose structure, and restore decision-making clarity.
Handle leads recoveries from inside the institution, aligning boards, lenders, sponsors, and project teams behind a single, enforceable roadmap.
EnquireContract and Claims Command
We dissect contract matrices, claims histories, and variation trails, converting documentation into leverage and enforceable outcomes.
Capital-Linked Recovery Architecture
We align turnaround strategy with lenders, security packages, and covenant frameworks to avoid uncontrolled collapses.
Multi-Stakeholder Alignment
We bring sponsors, contractors, lenders, and regulators into one structured decision forum with defined escalation paths.
Execution Inside UAE Jurisdictions
We operate across UAE onshore, DIFC, and ADGM, ensuring awards, standstills, and restructurings are enforceable, not theoretical.
Anchored in the Region’s Most Strategic Hubs
We work across the UAE’s leading financial centers, free zones, regulatory authorities, and courts; giving our clients certainty in both capital and law.
When your business turns legal, capital turns critical, and legacy turns strategic… #BetterAskHandle
What's Included in Our Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery Services
We take control of distressed and underperforming infrastructure and construction assets through a unified legal, financial, and operational recovery mandate. Every action is anchored in enforceable contracts, controlled cash flows, and defined decision rights.
From claims and arbitration to refinancing and contractor restructuring, we convert fragmented disputes and delays into a single, outcome-owned recovery track.
- Rapid diagnostic of contract position, claims exposure, and project economics
- Standstill, moratorium, and interim protection strategies with lenders and counterparties
- Claims, variations, and dispute roadmaps including mediation, adjudication, litigation, and arbitration
- Restructuring of contractors, JVs, and supply chains to preserve delivery capability
- Capital restructuring: facilities, covenants, collateral, and step-in rights
- Enforcement and recovery of awards, securities, and guarantees across UAE and relevant cross-border forums
“Before offering your business for M&A, you must raise it with discipline. Strengthen governance, restore financial clarity, and sharpen strategy. A parented business attracts investors with confidence, not discounts.”
Mohamed abu El-MakaremManaging Partner & Chairman
“Good litigation is disciplined project management. Clear filings, clean evidence, and a hearing plan that your board understands. That is how outcomes travel from courtroom to cash.”
Hamda Al FalasiPartner, Law & Arbitration
The Powerhouse of Law & Capital⚬
The Powerhouse of Law & Capital⚬
The Powerhouse of Law & Capital⚬
The Powerhouse of Law & Capital⚬
The Powerhouse of Law & Capital⚬
#BetterAskHandle⚬
#BetterAskHandle⚬
#BetterAskHandle⚬
#BetterAskHandle⚬
#BetterAskHandle⚬
Frequently Asked Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery Questions
Handle executes infrastructure and construction turnarounds where contractual, financial, and operational stress converge; structured for legal enforceability, capital protection, and controlled recovery timelines.
When is the right moment to mandate an Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery process?
The right moment is when delay, claims, or financial stress begin to dictate project decisions rather than the original business case. We typically enter when milestones are repeatedly missed, payment disputes escalate, or lenders increase scrutiny. At that point, a structured recovery mandate preserves options that erode quickly if left unmanaged. We impose a clear roadmap before others define it for you.
How do you stabilise a project with multiple disputes already in motion?
We first map all active and threatened disputes against the contract framework, security positions, and project cash flows. We then prioritise matters by impact and leverage, sequencing litigation, arbitration, negotiation, or standstill arrangements accordingly. This creates a single, coordinated dispute architecture rather than fragmented, reactive actions. The result is control of narrative, timing, and enforcement risk.
What role does capital structure play in construction turnaround?
Capital structure defines your real degree of freedom. We review facilities, covenants, guarantees, and security packages alongside project performance to determine where pressure or opportunity sits. We then renegotiate timelines, waivers, or restructurings that align with a realistic recovery plan, not optimistic schedules. This protects core assets while unlocking space to execute technical and legal remediation.
Can you act where government or sovereign-linked entities are counterparties?
Yes, we operate at the level of sovereign-linked sponsors, government entities, and their counterparties across the UAE. We calibrate strategy to policy, regulatory, and reputational realities while preserving your contractual and capital rights. Our approach is institutional, not adversarial for its own sake, which keeps doors open while securing enforceable outcomes. This balance is critical where the state is economically or politically embedded in the project.
How do you address failing contractors or JV partners on critical infrastructure?
We assess contractual step-in rights, performance security, and change-of-control provisions alongside the operational impact of any intervention. We then design a restructuring path that may involve management replacement, equity rebalancing, controlled exit, or replacement contractors. Throughout, we protect performance bonds, guarantees, and security positions so value is not lost during transition. The JV or contractor structure is reshaped to serve the project, not obstruct it.
What if the project is already in arbitration or litigation?
We do not restart; we reorganise. We review pleadings, evidence, and procedural posture to align existing disputes with a broader recovery objective, which may include settlement, consolidation, or re-sequencing. Where necessary, we recalibrate case theories and enforcement strategies to reflect current commercial realities. The disputes become tools within a turnaround, not isolated battles.
How do you protect lenders and sponsors during a distressed project recovery?
We give lenders and sponsors a transparent, data-backed view of risk, timeline, and recovery scenarios. We then structure protocols for information flow, covenants, and decision rights that prevent unilateral, reactive moves from any party. This stabilises the capital base while we execute contractual and operational corrections. The focus is preservation of enterprise value over short-term optics.
Do you operate only in the UAE for infrastructure and construction turnarounds?
The UAE is our execution centre, but projects and counterparties frequently span multiple jurisdictions. We coordinate with foreign counsel where required, while anchoring strategy in UAE, DIFC, or ADGM enforceability. For sponsors and capital operating through the UAE, this centralised control point is decisive. Jurisdiction becomes a tool, not a constraint.
How long does an Infrastructure & Construction Turnaround & Recovery engagement usually run?
Duration depends on project scale, dispute posture, and capital complexity. Many stabilisation phases run over 12 to 20 weeks, during which governance, cash, and disputes are brought under control. Full recovery, including resolution of major disputes and refinancing, often extends beyond that horizon. We set clear phases and milestones so boards can track progress against a defined timetable.
When should boards or family enterprises escalate to a formal turnaround, rather than internal management of issues?
Escalation is warranted when management has lost the ability to enforce timelines, contracts, or budgets against counterparties. If reporting is inconsistent, disputes proliferate, or lenders begin to doubt management narratives, a formal turnaround is no longer optional. At that stage, boards require an external execution authority with legal and capital command. We assume that mandate and restore institutional confidence in the project’s trajectory.
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