Oil and gas company Saudi Aramco has signed a US$10bn loan agreement with 27 financial institutions with an aim to secure better borrowing terms
Replacing the existing US$4bn agreement signed in 2010, the new deal is worth US$10bn and is broken down into two tranches ? one in US dollars (US$) and the other in Saudi Riyal (SAR).
Of the total US$7bn in the first section, US$6bn is a five-year facility with two one-year extension options and US$1bn is an annually renewable 364-day facility.
SAR 7.5bn (US$2bn) of the SAR 11.25 bn (US$3bn) in the other (Murabaha) tranche is a five-year facility with two one-year extension options and SAR 3.75bn (US$1bn) is an annually renewable 364-day facility.
Saudi Aramco?s credit standing is reflected in the terms, with a margin of 12 and 10 basis points (bps) for the US$ facilities? five-year and 364-day facilities respectively, and the margin for the US$3bn Murabaha facilities standing at 11 and 9 bps for the respective five-year and 364-day facilities.
The dollar tranche participants are the Bank of China Ltd (London branch), Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd, JP Morgan Chase Bank NA (Riyadh branch), Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and The Bank of Tokyo ? Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd as book runners and mandated lead arrangers; BNP Paribas, Cr?dit Agricole, Mizuho Bank, and RBC Capital Markets as lead arrangers; and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, ANZEF Limited, Gulf International Bank BSC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, National Bank of Kuwait (Jeddah branch), The Northern Trust Company, and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking as arrangers.
The SAR Murabaha tranche participants are Alinma Bank, Riyad Bank, and The National Commercial Bank as book runners and mandated lead arrangers; Banque Saudi Fransi, SAMBA Financial Group and The Saudi British Bank (SABB) as lead arrangers; and Arab National Bank and Saudi Hollandi Bank as arrangers.
