QNB Group announced its success in completing a syndicated term loan arrangement worth US$2.5 billion, from the senior unsecured debt category.
A statement issued by QNB Group, published on the Qatar Stock Exchange website today, explained that the process of arranging the loan witnessed strong demand and wide participation from 25 international and regional banks, with total commitments that exceeded twice the value of the loan, with prominent participation from 9 Asian banks with total commitments amounting to about 1.25 billion US dollars.
In this context, Mr. Abdullah Mubarak Al Khalifa, CEO of QNB Group, said: “The strong demand for the loan arrangement process confirms the confidence of banks from various global and regional markets in QNB Group. The loan received the interest of banks from various markets, which contributed to expanding the base of banks that we deal with in the field of loan financing.”
He explained that despite the challenges witnessed in the regional and global markets, the high demand for the loan, and the exceeding of its obligations, significantly reflects confidence in the creditworthiness of the QNB Group, indicating that the transaction highlights an additional indicator of the progress that the group is making to achieve its ambition of becoming one of the leading banks in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.
The group said: These facilities will be used to meet the general needs of the group’s business.
DBS, HSBC, ICBC, Mizuho and Standard Chartered Banks acted as lead arrangers, lead bookrunners and lead bookrunners, while DBS Bank and HSBC Bank coordinated the syndicated loan, Standard Chartered Bank coordinated the documentation, and Mizuho Bank acted as the facilitation agent.