Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company has signed a $700 million, three-year loan to back its purchase of a 17.6 percent stake in Oil Search Ltd, banking sources close to the deal said.

The bullet term loan is split between a $450 million US dollar tranche and a $250 million-equivalent dirham tranche, the sources added.

The deal pays a margin of 300 basis points (bps) over Libor, one of the sources said.

Bookrunners are Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Calyon, Deutsche Bank, First Gulf Bank and Natixis. Deutsche Bank is documentation agent and First Gulf Bank is facility agent.

Bankers told Reuters Loan Pricing Corp (RLPC) in January that IPIC was looking to raise $1 billion.

IPIC paid A$1.68 billion ($1.08 billion) for Oil Search last November.

Oil Search operates all of the oil and gas producing fields in Papua New Guinea and has a 34 per cent interest in the PNG LNG Project.

IPIC's previous loan was a 825 million euro, six-month bridge loan that signed in May 2008.

IPIC invests in oil-related projects for the government of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, which is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter. - Reuters