Alba Wins ‘Syndicated Loan Deal of 2017’ Award

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based aluminium smelter, was recently recognised as the winner in the ‘Syndicated Loan of the Year’ category at the Bonds, Loans and Sukuk Middle East Awards which was held in Dubai, UAE.

The award recognised Alba’s efforts to secure the largest-ever loan in October 2016, a $1.5 billion syndicated loan (first tranche of funding), to come out of Bahrain to fund its Line 6 Expansion Project, said a statement.

Alba brought 23 banks on board for this dual-tranche facility that was upsized by a factor of two and saw attractive pricing with over $2 billion commitments in line with the Bahrain blue-chip corporates, it said.

This facility comprised two tranches: a US Dollar-denominated senior unsecured conventional term-loan facility (the Conventional Facility) of $882 million and a US Dollar-denominated senior Shari’ah-compliant facility (the Islamic Facility) of $618 million, it added.

Ali Al Baqali, deputy chief executive officer, Alba, said: “We are much pleased to secure the largest corporate loan in the history of Bahrain.”

“We are even more proud to have executed the $1.5 billion syndicated loan at attractive pricing with a select group of international, regional and local banks,” he added.