Mashreq arranges $175m loan

Mashreq along with partner banks Doha Bank, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and United Bank Limited (UBL) anchored and successfully closed a syndicated term loan for Sri Lanka's largest bank, Bank of Ceylon (BoC). The $175 million facility has a tenor of one year.

The initial facility that was sized at $100 million received significant over-subscription and was upsized to $175 million. The deal witnessed participation from 15 financial institutions from around the region, both Gulf and Asian banks to this successful transaction.

Mashreq is the first UAE financial institution to arrange a syndicated loan facility for a Sri Lankan bank. The signing ceremony took place at Bank of Ceylon head office with the participation of senior representatives of Mashreq and those from other partner banks along with Chairman, General Manager and the senior management of the Bank of Ceylon.

John Iossifidis, Head of International Banking Group, Mashreq commented, "The success of this deal is a testimonial to the sound infrastructure of the financial sector in the UAE and in Mashreq's capabilities to originate and distribute syndicated loan transactions. Further we immensely value the relationship that we have built over several years with banks in the region and thank our partners for their support on this transaction.

In addition, Bank of Ceylon is a successful financial institution with a strong history and this compliments our strategy to strengthen our portfolio." Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe, Chairman of Bank of Ceylon said: "We are pleased to partner with an established and a market leader such as Mashreq and stress on the importance of this facility as it gathers some of the well-known banks in the region. This deal demonstrates the confidence of international financial sector towards BOC's history of over seven decades.
 

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