Metal producer Emirates Aluminium (Emal) has secured US$720mn for the first phase of an aluminium smelting complex in Abu Dhabi.
The total amount is split into two loans, with US$420mn raised from an ECA-backed syndicate of banks including Natixis, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Citi, Crédit Agricole and Deutsche Bank.
France’s export credit agency Coface and Germany’s Euler Hermes provided guarantees for the deal.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (US Ex-Im) has been tapped for a direct loan for the remaining US$300mn.
The money raised in this latest round of deals comes to just under 13% of the US$5.7bn needed to complete the first phase of construction, which will create a complex with a capacity of 700,000 tonnes per year.
Once the second phase is complete, at an additional cost of US$5bn, the entire complex will produce 1.4 million tonnes of aluminium a year.
Emal originally suggested it would issue a US$2bn corporate bond to raise funds, though this was retracted, as the remaining financing was raised in 2007 through a number of credit facilities.
The facilities consist of; a US$1.8bn, 16-year loan; a US$2.8bn, six-year equity bridge loan; and a US$270mn letter of credit facility.
Taylor-DeJongh acted as financial advisor to US Ex-Im and Coface.
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