DUBAI: Qatar National Bank, the
largest bank in the Middle East and Africa by assets, is raising a $1 billion,
three-year syndicated loan in the Asian bank market, sources familiar with the
situation said on Wednesday.
The Qatari lender is not new to the
international loan market and has previously raised large debt facilities in
both US dollars and euros.
Agricultural Bank of China has a
leading role in the new loan, the sources said.
A QNB spokesman did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The Qatari lender approached banks
for the new loan financing in mid-December, asking them to commit sizeable
tickets ranging between $100 million and $300 million, one source said.
The loan offers all-in pricing -
including interest margin and banks' fees - of 120 basis points over the London
interbank offered rate, the same source said.
QNB raised a 2.25 billion euro ($2.40
billion), three-year loan in May last year with a group of 14 lenders,
including European and Asian banks. That loan paid an interest rate of 105 bps
over the euro interbank offered rate.
Established in 1964 as the country's
first Qatari-owned commercial bank, QNB's current ownership is equally split
between the government's Qatar Investment Authority and the private sector.
The Qatar Investment Authority was
the top cornerstone investor in Agricultural Bank of China's $22.1 billion
initial public offer of shares in 2010. QNB is rated Aa3 by Moody's, A+ by
Standard & Poor's, and AA- by Fitch.
Copyright Reuters, 2017
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