GCC

Bahrain Steel to lock in better conditions in refi — Saudi sparks life into local loan mart — Cranfield University soft-sounds private placement market — Golding Homes looks to add hundreds of houses with £120m facility — Great Portland brings ESG loans to UK Reits

Qatar National Bank took $1bn from bond markets on Wednesday as it tapped investors for the second time this year, with just 1% allocated to Gulf Co-operation Council-based investors.

Dr Suliaman Al Habib Medical Group, one of the largest private health companies in Saudi Arabia, has announced it is seeking to list on the Tadawul stock exchange. It is the first company to attempt an IPO there since the record listing of Saudi Aramco last December.

Saudi Arabia's Saline Water Conversion Corp (SWCC) signed a $426.5m-equivalent loan with a consortium of local lenders. The deal comes after a disappointing year for international lenders, who were dismayed at the lower than expected volumes of Saudi Arabian activity.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has raised a $600m syndicated facility, which replaces a number of uncommitted bilateral loans.

Bahraini iron pellet producer Bahrain Steel is in discussions with lenders to refinance an existing facility, according to bankers. The deal, some say, is part of a broader trend among emerging market borrowers seeking to secure more attractive conditions.

Qatar National Bank has tightened price guidance for its second international bond of this year and books are already in excess of 3bn for the $1bn-maximum trade.

Dubai’s Emirates NBD Bank has sold a small stake in NMC Health, the beleaguered UAE private healthcare company, to close out a loan owed by Infinite Investment, a vehicle for two of the company’s controlling shareholders.

Zero-E the company that holds the wind, solar and thermal assets of Actividades de Construcción y Servicios has found a private buyer for its Spanish renewables assets, making an IPO unlikely.

Samba Financial Group sold its $500m seven year bond on Wednesday from a book of $2.3bn. A syndicate official on the deal said that follow-on demand from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia triple tranche print on Tuesday helped to propel the deal.

Bahraini investment group Gulf Finance House printed its $300m five year sukuk on Tuesday from a book of more than $750m.

Saudi Arabia scored a triple tranche dollar deal inside its own curve on Tuesday, raising cash at seven, 12 and 35 years. Samba Financial Group has since followed its sovereign into the market with its own deal.