Middle East

Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) has signed its biggest ever syndicated loan, for $2.6bn, with a club of eight banks, after tapping the same banks for $1.75bn last year. The loan is an unsecured one year bridge facility.

Turkish petrochemical manufacturer and debut issuer Petkim Petrokimya Holding was marketing a five year bond at what one rival banker called a “punchy” starting point on Friday.

A senior BNP Paribas CEEMEA DCM banker has resigned from the bank to join Goldman Sachs.

Mizuho Bank has hired a senior banker to run its Saudi office as it looks to develop its business in financing and advisory work.

Fibabanka has launched its $300m five year senior unsecured bond at 6%, with leads having built a book of just under $500m for the bond, which had been postponed from October.

Reverse enquiries led to two large share sales over the last week, with one of the blocks executed as a pure club transaction without the need for an accelerated bookbuild at all.

Fibabanka began marketing its revived five year bond at 6.25% area on Thursday.

Axis Bank’s presence in the top group of a recent loan for Oman’s Bank Sohar has once again put the focus on Indian lenders’ efforts to expand their overseas balance sheets. Banks from the south Asian country see FIG deals as a safe gateway to business in unfamiliar geographies — and are keen to step up their game. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Fibabanka has restarted a dollar bond issue that it postponed last year.

UBS led the biggest Israeli follow-on offering for almost three years on Tuesday morning on behalf of the Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, the Canadian potash producer that recently merged with Agrium to create Nutrien.

Taptica International, the London-listed Israeli digital marketing solutions company, has raised £21.8m to finance future M&A in a £38m share sale that attracted substantial demand. The deal also provided an opportunity for its investors to monetise some of their investment in the company.

Dubai’s GEMS Education hosted a roadshow last week for a $1.25bn loan, which attracted a mix of local and international banks.