Two Gulf wealth funds seek $6.5b

Dubai: Two Gulf sovereign wealth funds are looking to borrow as much as $6.5 billion to help fin-ance expansion, bankers said on Tuesday.

Bahrain's $10 billion investment agency Mumtalakat Holdings is seeking $500 million to finance acquisitions and Investment Corporation Dubai, which pools some of the emirate's biggest firms, has started syndication of a $6 billion loan, bankers said.

Mumtalakat said in May it was considering two acquisitions, one in the services sector in North America worth as much as $1 billion dollars, and another in Asia.

It will close syndication of its loan on August 17, said a spokesman for the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), which is arranging the loan. Mumtalakat owns 50 per cent of NBB.

The five-year loan, which includes a $150 million Islamic tranche, is being marketed to local and regional banks, he said.

"By undertaking our first debt facility, Mumtalakat will be well placed to capture value-creating acquisition opportunities when they arise," Mumtalakat chief executive Talal Al Zain said in a statement.

Islamic tranches

Investment Corporation Dubai's loan, which is in general syndication, includes two Islamic tranches of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, two bankers involved in the transaction said yesterday. The loan will be used for general corporate activity, bankers told Reuters last month.

Regional government investment agencies are tapping debt markets to fin-ance expansion as Gulf economies boom on a more than five-fold rise in oil prices since 2002.

Mumtalakat planned to sell assets and buy into foreign firms as part of a strategy by Bahrain to diversify holdings, Zain said in May.

Mumtalakat's assets include Bahrain Aluminium (Alba), Gulf Air, Bahrain Telecommunications (Batelco) and a 30 per cent stake in the Mclaren Formula 1 motor racing team.

Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Bank, Barclays Capital, Citigroup and HSBC are lead arrangers for the Investment Corporation Dubai's conventional loan, while Noor Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered are among the bookrunners for the Islamic tranches.