GCC

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is ready to hop into the Kangaroo market this week, having mandated a pair of banks to lead a potential five year Aussie dollar deal, offering an attractive spread.

Shares in NMC Health, the beleaguered UAE healthcare company, surged as much as 18% on Monday morning after it said it had received takeover approaches from buyout firms KKR and GK Investment.

First Abu Dhabi Bank signalled its intention to tap the sterling bond market on Monday, announcing investor calls for a short dated offering.

Qatar National Bank returned to the euro market for the first time since March 2018 this week, while there was also an unusual outing in Saudi riyal as Emirates NBD made its debut in the currency — the first from a non-Saudi issuer since 2018.

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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.