Nogaholding signs landmark US$570m Murabaha facility

Manama : Nogaholding, the investment and business development arm of Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) announced yesterday that it has successfully signed a US$570 million Murabaha finance facility and has hosted a dinner last evening to commemorate the success. 

The facility will enable nogaholding to invest in a number of profitable projects in Bahrain which include three key developments: the BAPCO Modernisation Programme, the LNG Import Terminal, and the Bahrain Gas Plant Project (part of Bahrain National Gas Expansion Company).

For BAPCO, the Middle East’s longest standing refinery with a capacity of 260,000 barrels per day, nogaholding will invest in a substantial modernisation programme.  In addition, nogaholding will support the Bahrain LNG Import Terminal Project launched in December 2015 on a BOOT (‘build-operate-own-transfer’) basis with a consortium of international investors (Teekay, Samsung C&T and GIC). The project will include an offshore receiving and regasification facility, subsea gas pipelines and an onshore gas receiving facility. 

Nogaholding will also invest in the new gas plant project of the Bahrain National Gas Expansion Company (BNGEC), which is set to further increase gas processing capacity within Bahrain for the production of natural gas liquids (NGLs). 

The event was held under the patronage of Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza, Minister of Energy and Chairman of nogaholding and was attended by more than 40 representatives from the management of the participating banks as well as senior management of nogaholding and was held at the Al Ghazal Ballroom, Ritz Carlton Hotel, Bahrain.

Commenting on the facility, Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of nogaholding said: “The US$570 million Murabaha facility was our first foray into the syndicated credit markets.  Despite challenging market conditions, we received significant oversubscription which is a definite endorsement of the trust and confidence in nogaholding’s track record, financial position and growth prospects, of which we are proud.”

The ten local, regional and international banks which participated in nogaholding’s sharia-compliant finance facility include:  Arab Banking Corporation (ABC), Ahli United Bank (AUB), Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), Gulf International Bank (GIB), and National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Kuwait Finance House (KFH), The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), BNP Paribas, and HSBC. 

Nogaholding’s first syndicated debt facility carries a term of five years and will be used to meet general purpose financing requirements of the Group. Due to strong demand from participating banks, the facility size was increased by more than 60 per cent and the book significantly oversubscribed.