Dubai: Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) said Tuesday it has secured a $3 billion (Dh11 billion) revolving credit facility which will be used for general corporate purposes.
In a mandatory filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), where its shares are listed, Taqa said the facility will replace its existing $3.15 billion revolving credit facility, signed in August 2008.
Taqa's shares rose on the news and were trading at Dh1.47 a share in the afternoon yesterday. "The $3 billion facility from 20 banks comprises $2 billion in a three year revolving credit tranche and $1 billion in a five year revolving tranche," Taqa said.
Commenting on the news, Doug Fraser, Taqa's chief financial officer said: "We saw a high level of interest in the syndication of the revolving credit facility from banks around the world resulting in the facility being oversubscribed. The strong interest has allowed us to keep pricing tight and maintain flexibility. All in all, this is a highly successful refinancing process which allows us to extend the bank facility for another three to five years at very attractive pricing." The bookrunners of the facility were the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank.
Initial mandated lead arrangers were Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The remaining banks in the syndication were: DnB NOR Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Natixis, Societe Generale, WestLB, Nomura, Europe Arab Bank, Maybank, Bank of Taiwan, Chang Hwa Bank and Commercial Bank (Taipei), Taiwan Co-op Bank and United Taiwan Bank. BTMU also acted as coordinator and facility agent.
Extensive review
Earlier, Taqa said it had received an ‘A' rating from the international credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's following an extensive review of Taqa's strategy and business plan.
The S&P rating will also help secure more funds at a lower pricing, if needed," Tarek Qaqish, Director and Fund Manager at Dubai-based Al Mal Capital, told Gulf News by telephone.