Nogaholding, the business development arm of Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga), hosted a dinner last evening to commemorate the successful signing of the $570 million murabaha finance facility.  

The event was held under the patronage of Dr Abdul Hussain bin Ali 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.
 
“I would like to thank and congratulate all the lenders for their valuable support in bringing this facility to a successful conclusion,” Dr Mirza said during the event.

Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Nogaholding said: “I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dr Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Energy for gracing us at this event and greatly appreciate his continued support and guidance.  At Nogaholding, our ongoing strategy is to invest and grow the oil and gas assets in the Kingdom of Bahrain and position the country as a key international player.”

“Furthermore, I would also like to thank the banks for attending this dinner to celebrate this important milestone in our corporate history.

“The $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,” he added.

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. – TradeArabia News Service