Bank Muscat signs $525 million syndicated loan agreement

Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest bank by assets, has signed to obtain a $525 million syndicated loan, banking sources said.

The three-year facility pays an all-in 170 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate, comprising a margin of 155 bps plus 45 bps of bank fees spread over three years. 

Part of the proceeds of the loan, which was coordinated by Bank ABC and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, will repay a $600 million, three-year debt facility which the Omani lender raised in 2014.

Bank Muscat was not immediately available to comment.

The new loan sees the involvement of the same banks that backed the 2014 loan, with the addition of Emirates NBD and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the sources said.

Bank ABC, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Citigroup, Commerzbank, HSBC, Mizuho, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and Wells Fargo were involved in the 2014 loan.

Bank Muscat raised a $315 million, three-year loan in May last year, which offered all-in pricing of 200 bps.

The lender is rated Baa1 by Moody's, BBB- by Standard & Poor's and BBB by Fitch.

Source : Times Of Oman