Troubled Saudi conglomerates Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad al-Gosaibi & Bros Co (AHAB) will meet creditors this month to restructure $10 billion of debt, a Saudi newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed bankers.

Al-Hayat newspaper said the two firms would talk to their  creditors over the next two weeks in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Britain.

The paper said that there were more than 100 creditors that would agree to major debt restructuring. This is the first time a figure has been given for the size of the debts.

Al-Hayat did not say how much each company had in debt.

Both Saad and AHAB have said they are restructuring their debt, but have not given the size of their obligations nor the companies affected.

An AHAB spokesman declined to comment. No one at Saad was immediately available for comment.

The two firms were not likely to file for bankruptcy, Al-Hayat cited one banker as saying. "This is for various considerations, first of which their effective ability to reimburse," the banker was quoted as saying.

There are growing fears that banks in the Gulf have too much exposure to the two struggling groups.

The central bank governors from the United Arab Emirates and Oman said on Monday that banks in the Gulf were more exposed to the debt problems at Saad Group and AHAB than previously thought.

Analysts expect Gulf banks to eventually reveal how much exposure they have to the family conglomerates, which could represent one of the biggest defaults to hit the Gulf region since the onset of the financial crisis. - Reuters