MANAMA: Al Bayan Group Holding Company said that it had signed a $70 million syndicated Islamic term financing facility with a group of leading regional and international banks.
ABC Islamic Bank, the Islamic finance subsidiary of Arab Banking Corporation, was appointed as the Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner. Guidance Financial Group acted as Financial Adviser to Al Bayan.
The Facility is Al Bayan’s debut syndication in the regional debt market. The new financing will be used for general corporate purposes, and importantly the Company has been able to establish new banking relationships outside its home market of Saudi Arabia.
The participant banks were ABC Islamic Bank (E.C.), BBK B.S.C., Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, Al-Baraka Islamic Bank – Bahrain, Bank of London and The Middle East plc and Maybank Bahrain.
“This facility marks our first Islamic funding exercise in the region outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The successful closing of this financing reflects the underlying strengths, sound business model and growth strategy adopted by the Company and we wish to thank all the participating banks for their support and look forward to working with them in the future,” Dr. Abdulrahman Al Hammad, Chief Executive Officer of Al Bayan, said.
“We are delighted that Al Bayan chose ABC Islamic Bank to be the sole Initial Mandated Lead Arranger for this successful debut facility. It is a landmark transaction where we have been able to demonstrate our commitment to respond to and meet the requirements of one of our important clients,” Naveed Khan, Global Head of Islamic Banking and Managing Director of ABC Islamic Bank said.
“We are delighted to have been given this opportunity by Al Bayan to lead their debut syndication targeting the bank market outside of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are pleased to have introduced a high quality group of regional and international based banks to the Company and we wish to thank these banks for their professionalism and cooperation in successfully closing the syndication,” John McWall, ABC’s Head of Syndications, said.
“We are pleased to have advised Al Bayan on this landmark transaction. It is further testament to the strength of Al Bayan’s business and the vision of its management and highlights the potential of Saudi businesses to access international capital markets,” Tahir Naseem, CEO Guidance Financial Group, International Finance, added.
Al Bayan Group Holding Company is a diversified holding company based in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with businesses that include construction of infrastructure and buildings, general contracting, supply of a large range of equipment and information technology products and services, printing and packaging, and other related businesses. Al Bayan is rated AA3 (Stable) by RAM Rating Services of Malaysia.