Saudi loan refi could reach US$15bn

摘要

Saudi Arabia has approached banks for proposals to refinance its US$10bn syndicated loan that was raised in 2016 and to help the sovereign raise funds through other means, the country's debt management office said last week. The refinancing of the loan will include a repricing of the facility and the extension of its maturity to 2023 from 2021. An Islamic finance tranche using a murabaha structure will be added to the loan. The original US$10bn five-year loan, signed in May 2016, was coordinated by JP Morgan, HSBC and MUFG. It paid all-in pricing (margin plus fees) of 120bp over Libor and was the kingdom's first significant foreign borrowing for over a decade.