National Bank of Fujairah signs $235M club loan

National Bank of Fujairah signs $235M club loan

NBF was expected to raise $250 mln; Funds for general business purposes - statement - Reuters

June 19, 2011 10:53 by p.deleon

National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) on Sunday said it had signed a $235 million two- year club loan with a consortium of lenders.

The amount is less than the $250 million the lender expected to raise when it launched the loan in April, to refinance an existing facility maturing this month.

The funds are for NBF’s general business activities, a company statement said.
Emirates NBD , National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Wells Fargo, Commerzbank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Lloyds TSB were all mandated lead arrangers on the deal.

Commerzbank was also the facility agent, NBF said.

Among NBF’s major shareholders are the governments of Fujairah and Dubai, both emirates within the UAE. NBF did not disclose the pricing for the transaction in its statement.

Although there is increasing lending activity again, financial institutions in the UAE are still struggling to attract bank lending which is still mainly reserved only for the top-tier quasi sovereign or highest rated credits.

Shares in NBF were flat at 0749 GMT, and are down 20 percent so far this year. (Reporting by Rachna Uppal; Editing by Dinesh Nair)