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First Gulf Bank (FGB), a major leading financial institution headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, signed today a new three year USD 900 million senior unsecured Term Loan Facility with a group of international banks. The deal size, initially announced on September 13, 2012 at USD 800 million, has been upgraded on the back of high demand from lenders.
The facility will be used for general financing purposes with a bullet repayment at the end of the 3-year period, and carries a 130 bps margin above the USD benchmark rate. FGB will receive the proceeds from this transaction in December 2012.
The deal lenders include The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Citibank, N.A., London Branch, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, HSBC, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Standard Chartered Bank as Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of China, London Branch, Samba Financial Group, Union National Bank PJSC, as Mandated Lead Arrangers, and Al Khalij Commercial Bank QSC and Arab Bank PLC as Arrangers.
Having received a positive response from market participants, the facility was oversubscribed during the syndication process. Furthermore, it marks the largest loan market transaction undertaken by a financial institution in the UAE this year, its size and pricing setting a new benchmark in the current market.
Commenting on the transaction, Andre’ Sayegh, CEO of FGB said: “In our continuous efforts to strengthen the balance sheet and deliver a superior financial performance, First Gulf Bank aims to utilize the facility to finance the expansion of the existing operations as well as new business opportunities globally. The transaction received an overwhelming response from lenders worldwide due to the solid reputation FGB enjoys in the local and international markets. The success of the transaction highlights the important relationship FGB has with financial institutions across Europe, North America, Asia and the Gulf regions.”
As one of the leading banks in the UAE, FGB has a shareholder equity of AED 28 billion as of Q3 2012 making it one of the largest equity based banks in the UAE. Established in 1979 and headquartered in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, the bank provides a wide spectrum of financial services in various business sectors with a wide network of branches across the Emirates; in addition to the bank’s branches in Singapore and Qatar, a representative office in India and a subsidiary in Libya. The Bank is among the highest rated regional banks with long term credit ratings of A+ and A2 from Fitch and Moody’s respectively.
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