HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeFinanceback to Research & KnowledgeMannai Corporation (A): On the brinkback to Finance

Case Study

Mannai Corporation (A): On the brink

By Stewart Hamilton and Sarah Hutton

24 pages

July 2005

Order this case study

Reference: IMD-1-0237

In September 2000 Mannai Corporation, one of the oldest and largest private enterprises in Qatar, was facing ruin. A combination of events had led to the company reaching its substantial bank borrowing limits and it was in grave danger of being unable to meet the wages bill for its 4,000 employees. The Mannai Corporation had grown to become the biggest privately owned trading house in Qatar. Mr Ahmed Mannai, a prominent member of the Qatar establishment, had created from nothing a highly successful conglomerate with activities ranging from automobile sales and service through construction and into oil related marine activities. As recently as 1998, Mannai had hit the headlines when it became the subject of the first management buyout in the Gulf region. Ahmed Mannai had bought out his two partners with a small consortium of Gulf banks providing the $110 million bridging loan. Subsequently caught out by the slump in oil prices to less that $10 a barrel at the end of 1998 and the resultant slow down of activity in that sector and a general malaise in the local economy, the Mannai Corporation had run into serious financial problems. With interest obligations now approaching $1 million a month, Mannai had been brought to its knees. The year was supposed to be one of celebration for Mannai, marking 50 years of successful trading and expansion, not just in Qatar but throughout the Gulf region and beyond. Instead, its very existence was threatened. The company was facing a stark choice: to liquidate or somehow contrive a means of survival. If it were to be the latter, what would be the priorities and how would they be tackled?

Keywords

Turnaround, Restructuring, Debt-equity Swap, Trading

Settings

Middle East, Qatar
1999-2004

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

This case study is part of a series

Mannai Corporation (A): On the brink
Mannai Corporation (B): Back from the brink?

2006 EFMD AWARD WINNER (Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues)

This case study is part of a series

Mannai Corporation (A): On the brink
Mannai Corporation (B): Back from the brink?

Mannai Corporation (A): On the brink

By Stewart Hamilton and Sarah Hutton
Case reference: IMD-1-0237 ©2005

Summary

In September 2000 Mannai Corporation, one of the oldest and largest private enterprises in Qatar, was facing ruin. A combination of events had led ...

2006 EFMD Case Writing Competition – Winner: Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues

Reference IMD-1-0237

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Browse all topics

Mannai Corporation (B): Back from the brink?

By Stewart Hamilton and Sarah Hutton
Case reference: IMD-1-0238 ©2005

Summary

Mannai Corporation, one of the oldest and largest private enterprises in Qatar was facing ruin by the end of 2000. A combination of events had led...

2006 EFMD Case Writing Competition – Winner: Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues

Reference IMD-1-0238

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Browse all topics

Keep reading

Case Study

Alpian: Swiss banking excellence. For all.

Digital Entrepreneurship Strategy Finance

By Benoit F. Leleux and Inna Francis

Video

Are we headed for a perfect financial storm?

Could government borrowing, AI investment and falling corporate profits trigger a global financial crisis? Explore the pressures and risks for business.

Competitiveness Finance Leadership Geopolitics

By Arturo Bris

in I by IMD

Article

Why CFOs should build resilience before they need it

Pirelli CFO Fabio Bocchio explains how disciplined capital allocation, sustainability investment, and balance-sheet strength build resilience.

Finance Finance Leadership Sustainability Value Creation

By I by IMD

in I by IMD

Article

Three key steps for CFOs in the AI era

CFOs in the AI era: design data-models and workflows that maximize value, redefine productivity, and establish transparent AI governance.

Finance Leadership Artificial Intelligence

By Salvatore Cantale, Konstantinos Trantopoulos and Michael R. Wade

in I by IMD Brain Circuits

8 October 2026

Article

Will prediction markets lead to disaster? It’s a safe bet

Jerry Davis examines prediction market risks and explains why these politically backed platforms may resemble high-stakes casinos more than stock markets.

Finance

By Jerry Davis

in I by IMD

Article

Trade distortions and investment decisions of private equity funds

We examine how variation in trade distortions across countries and industries is associated with the investment behavior of private equity funds, taking explicit account of their country and industry mandates. We use a sample of 9142 transactions ...

Finance

By Simon J. Evenett, Stefan Morkoetter and Dominic Rainsborough

in Journal of Corporate Finance

18 September 2026, ePub before print

Article

The tragedy of the horizon: A contracting account

The “tragedy of the horizon” captures the gap between long-horizon climate damages and the shorter horizons of corporate decision-making. We provide a contracting account of this idea using a deliberately standard CARA-normal moral-hazard model. U...

Finance Economics

By Christos Cabolis and Karl Schmedders

in Economic Letters

September 2026, vol. 268, 113154, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2026.113154

Case Study

BP's transformation strategy under pressure: A pivotal moment for the board's chair

The case places participants in the role of Helge Lund, chair of BP, on 4 October 2023. Only weeks earlier, BP's chief executive officer Bernard Looney had resigned over undisclosed relationships with colleagues. Looney had been the principal arch...

Board Stakeholder Management Business Transformation Finance

By Hans-Christoph Hirt

Article

The CFO’s balancing act: Delivering more intelligent growth

The era of unchecked expansion has passed – for Søren Westh Lonning, CFO at FinTech Pleo, the challenge now is to drive balanced, disciplined growth.

Finance Finance Leadership Technology Management

By I by IMD

in I by IMD

Case Study

Entrepreneurship through acquisition: NCA’s operator-led search fund approach

The case investigates the supported search fund model pioneered by Novastone Capital Advisors (NCA) through which mid-career executives can achieve their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs though the acquisition of an SME. NCA provides support throu...

Entrepreneurship Strategy Finance

By Benoit F. Leleux

Alpian: Swiss banking excellence. For all.

By Benoit F. Leleux and Inna Francis
Case reference: IMD-7-2552 ©2026

Summary

In August 2023, Alpian's founding CEO Schuyler Weiss announced his departure, promoting Gianmarco Bonaita to the role. Alpian had pioneered digital Swiss private banking. With three rounds of financing, a full-fledged Swiss banking license from FINMA and a strategic partnership with Fideuram–Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, it also demonstrated a solid B2B potential selling its digital technology. Reinventing the private banking industry for digital natives was no simple feat. Among the most pressing concerns were how to reduce the client acquisition costs, how to diversify private banking services, how broadly to expand Alpian retail services while keeping the costs down and how to develop the fledgling B2B market. Scale was clearly of the essence, and so far it had come at a very high cost. What else could they do to increase brand awareness and client acquisition to accelerate scale up without proportional cost increases? And as if that was not enough, Alpian also had to deal with the agenda of a new majority owner.

Reference IMD-7-2552

Organization Alpian

Industry Finance and Insurance, Banking

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Digital

Entrepreneurship

Strategy

Finance

Browse all topics

Are we headed for a perfect financial storm?

By Arturo Bris
in I by IMD

Summary

Could government borrowing, AI investment and falling corporate profits trigger a global financial crisis? Explore the pressures and risks for business.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Competitiveness

Finance

Leadership

Geopolitics

Browse all topics

Why CFOs should build resilience before they need it

By I by IMD
in I by IMD

Summary

Pirelli CFO Fabio Bocchio explains how disciplined capital allocation, sustainability investment, and balance-sheet strength build resilience.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Finance Leadership

Sustainability

Value Creation

Browse all topics

Three key steps for CFOs in the AI era

By Salvatore Cantale Konstantinos Trantopoulos and Michael R. Wade
in I by IMD Brain Circuits 8 October 2026

Summary

CFOs in the AI era: design data-models and workflows that maximize value, redefine productivity, and establish transparent AI governance.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Leadership

Artificial Intelligence

Browse all topics

Trade distortions and investment decisions of private equity funds

By Simon J. Evenett Stefan Morkoetter and Dominic Rainsborough
in Journal of Corporate Finance 18 September 2026, ePub before print

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Browse all topics

The tragedy of the horizon: A contracting account

By Christos Cabolis and Karl Schmedders
in Economic Letters September 2026, vol. 268, 113154, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2026.113154

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Economics

Browse all topics

BP's transformation strategy under pressure: A pivotal moment for the board's chair

By Hans-Christoph Hirt
Case reference: IMD-2774 ©2026

Summary

Reference IMD-2774

Organization BP

Industry Materials, Oil and Gas

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Board

Stakeholder Management

Business Transformation

Finance

Browse all topics

The CFO’s balancing act: Delivering more intelligent growth

By I by IMD
in I by IMD

Summary

The era of unchecked expansion has passed – for Søren Westh Lonning, CFO at FinTech Pleo, the challenge now is to drive balanced, disciplined growth.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Finance Leadership

Technology Management

Browse all topics

Entrepreneurship through acquisition: NCA’s operator-led search fund approach

By Benoit F. Leleux
Case reference: IMD-7-2513 ©2026

Summary

Reference IMD-7-2513

Organization Novastone Capital Advisors

Industry Finance and Insurance, Private Equity

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Entrepreneurship

Strategy

Finance

Browse all topics