ABN AMRO recently structured a term loan facility of nine million dollars for its client Nico Middle East. The facility was provided for the purchase of a specialized ship from the Netherlands.
The loan was insured by NCM, the Dutch export credit agency and was unique in many respects including the fact that this was the first time that the Dutch Government's insurance arm took a direct exposure on a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based private company.
According to Country Representative of ABN AMRO Tom Zwaan, the deal was not only structured very quickly but was also very competitively priced. He also mentioned that this deal helped the bank to demonstrate its capabilities in structuring Export Credit Agency covered transactions.
Availability of credit insurance helps clients in achieving longer tenors of debt at competitive pricing for acquisition of capital assets. With the growing appetite of the European Export Credit Agencies for this region, ABN AMRO sees significant opportunities for structuring similar transactions for its clients in the Middle East. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
