QNB’s Group CEO, Abdulla Mubarak Al Khalifa.
Doha: QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa, announced yesterday the successful closing of the syndication for its global dual tranche $3.5bn unsecured term loan facility. The syndication was well supported by 34 international banks with substantial oversubscription.
QNB’s Group CEO, Abdulla Mubarak Al Khalifa (pictured), commented: “The closing of this syndication is exceptional in several aspects, it is the largest 5-year dual tranche syndication ever issued in the Middle East region for a bank. This tranche also attracted the interest of global banks and helped us further broaden our investor base. The issuance was substantially oversubscribed which, despite the challenges of COVID-19, demonstrates our standing as a high quality issuer. We see this transaction as confirmation of our successful strategy of becoming a leading bank in MEASEA.”
The facility included $2bn three year and $1.5bn five-year tranches, and will be used for general corporate purposes.
The syndication was fully underwritten by HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Designated Activity Company, Barclays Bank PLC, MUFG Bank, Ltd., Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte. Ltd., Standard Chartered Bank, SMBC Bank International plc and United Overseas Bank Limited. Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers included J.P. Morgan Securities plc and Intesa Sanpaolo, QFC Branch along with the Underwriters.
HSBC was mandated as the Documentation Co-ordinator while Mizuho was mandated as the Syndication Co-ordinator and Facility Agent.
Earlier in September this year, QNB Group successfully completed its first green benchmark bond issuance and first ever green bond issued by a Qatari bank.
Under the Medium Term Note (MTN) Programme, $600m tranche in the form of Senior Unsecured Notes was issued with a maturity of 5 years and listed on the London Stock Exchange under Sustainable Bond Market segment.
QNB Group had received subscriptions in excess of $1.8bn demonstrating the global investor’s confidence in QNB Group’s solid financial fundamentals and strong financial performance.
