QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East, has closed the syndication for its $3.5bn three-year senior unsecured term loan facility.
The syndication was well supported by 21 international banks and the facility was upsized due to strong demand from the market, a QNB spokesman said, adding the new loan facility would be used for general corporate purposes.
The syndication was fully underwritten by nine underwriters, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML); The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi; Barclays Bank; Deutsche Bank, London branch; Intesa Sanpaolo, Qatar Financial Center branch; Mizuho Bank (Mizuho); Standard Chartered Bank; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; and United Overseas Bank.
BAML was mandated as the documentation co-ordinator, while Mizuho was the syndication co-ordinator and facility agent.
“QNB Group is very happy at the successful refinancing and the upsizing of the existing syndicated loan facility, which is a reflection of the strong demand by the top tier global banks that want to continue to partner with us,” according to Ali Ahmed al-Kuwari, its chief executive.
He said this further reflects the investor community’s confidence in the group’s strategy and the strength of financial position particularly following the recent announcement of robust 2017 financial results, which showed a 6% year-on-year growth in net profit to QR13.1bn.
The QNB group also announced that it had already repaid in full the earlier loan of $3bn syndicated loan prior to issuing the new loan facility.
QNB’s 2017 financial results have displayed a robust 6% year-on-year growth in net profit to QR13.1bn
