Middle East Loans

Nabil Lahham has joined HSBC to head up advisory and corporate finance coverage for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. He was most recently at Perella Weinberg Partners.

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

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.

Market participants at the Euromoney Sustainability MENA Conference in Dubai this week highlighted the importance of regulation as a driving force that could propel progress in sustainable finance.

Lenders are disappointed at the low levels of activity so far this year in the Middle East. The region’s loans market, which struggled last year to match 2018 volumes, will continue to struggle against the booming bond market, according to bankers.

The risk that huge amounts of oil and gas assets will be stranded by moves to tackle the climate emergency may be more pertinent for sovereign credit than for private sector corporate debt, according to new research.

Frequent syndicated loan borrower and United Arab Emirates-based aircraft lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has raised a $300m term loan with Chinese banks.

Etihad Airways has signed a €100m loan linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The deal is one of the latest ESG-linked financings signed in the Middle East, which is developing an appetite for sustainability-linked debt.

The loan market has had a great couple of years in the Middle East but in 2019 the bond market stole its thunder. However, as the region tries to wean itself off hydrocarbons, the sheer scale of financing needed means both markets will have plenty to do over the next 10 years. Mariam Meskin reports

Bankers in Doha this week were eager to start a World Cup funding run in Qatar, as concerns over the Gulf state’s conflict with Saudi Arabia began to dissipate.