Middle East Loans

Even the big beast of the Middle East is suffering the financing pressure sweeping the region. The margin on oil-drenched Saudi Arabia’s $10bn loan, revealed this week, compared to what it might have coughed up just months ago shows no borrower is immune, writes Elly Whittaker.

Commitments are due for Qatar National Bank's €1.5bn loan on Friday, after only a short stint in the market. The deal is expected to entice a raft of European lenders keen to put cheaply raised euros to work.

Saudi Arabia will pay a margin of between 100bp-110bp for its loan of up to $10bn, according to a banker on the deal.

Luxury hotel complex Atlantis the Palm, is syndicating an $850m-equivalent loan to pay for the next stage of development for the five star resort.

The $250m loan for Gulf schools operator GEMS Education has been signed with mostly Middle Eastern banks in the syndicate.

Cheap euro loans from European banks are attracting the attention of typically dollar hungry EM borrowers, as Qatar National Bank (QNB) launched a rare offer in the currency.

Rather than cherry picking its favourite banks for its $10bn sovereign loan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will “pull together a handful of banks” to get the deal done, according to a banker in discussions with the sovereign.

You would think that a role in Saudi Arabia’s first loan in over two decades would be the golden ticket for any bank, but it’s not to everyone’s taste.

Qatar National Bank is turning to euro funding with its latest €1.5bn loan, which was launched on Tuesday.

Egypt’s Banque Misr is finalising its second syndicated loan in over a decade, a murabaha deal for $200m.

Aabar Investments has signed a €3.6bn loan facility to repay other debt and reduce borrowing costs, with a targeted syndication set to follow.

International banks have been keenly awaiting a mandate for $10bn of loans for Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) and this week the borrower said it was starting the financing with local lenders.