Middle East Loans

Dubai’s state-owned energy group Emirates National Oil Co (Enoc) has secured a $500m revolving credit facility from a club of seven banks to fund its growth plans for Dubai's coming Expo 2020.

Bahrain Islamic bank (BisB) has launched a $50m murabaha syndicated facility, making its first entry into the loan market, according to bankers in the region.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) is in talks with international and Middle Eastern banks about a syndicated loan of up to $5bn, which is understood to be very tightly priced.

Qatari banks have been involved in several syndicated loans in the past month, despite the stand-off between the nation and six other Middle Eastern states.

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has closed the first tranche of its $700m export credit agency (ECA) covered facility taken out in April to finance its Line 6 expansion project.

Standard Bank is planning to launch a $750m syndicated loan, and hopes to drum up enough interest to enlarge it to $1.25bn.

Etisalat has been given until Friday to transfer all its shares in Etisalat Nigeria to a syndicate of 13 Nigerian banks, after talks on restructuring a $1.2bn loan from 2013 fell through.

Etisalat Nigeria is in the “advanced stage” of its negotiations with 13 local banks over the restructuring of a $1.2bn loan taken out in 2013, according to the company.

Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting which began on May 26, has caused delays to loan deals that were expected to close this week in the Middle East, according to bankers in the region.

As concerns mount over the diplomatic stand-off between six Gulf states and Qatar, GlobalCapital investigated the immediate impact on the loan market in the region as well as its likely consequences and discovered a mixed picture.

Bank ABC as sole initial mandated lead arranger has completed a $125m syndicated loan for Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company.

Oman's plans for loan market financing this year are taking shape, with the sultanate lining up an 'orderly queue" of deals, according to a banker involved in several of them.