Alba successfully closes $1.5 billion syndicated loan

<p>Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), home-base of the Line 6 Expansion Project, is pleased to announce the successful closing for its landmark syndicated term-loan facility, the first tranche of the Company&rsquo;s funding plan for the Line 6 Project. <br /><br />Alba&rsquo;s original target for the syndicated loan was to raise between US$500 to US$750 million.&nbsp; However, due to heavy over subscription, Alba decided to upsize the loan to US$1.5 billion making it the largest corporate loan in the history of Bahrain.&nbsp; The US$1.5 billion carries an interest margin of 325 basis point per annum over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). This facility has a 7-year tenor and the principal amount will be repaid in eight semi-annual instalments and includes a 3-year grace period on principal payments to support the Line 6 construction period.<br /><br />This facility comprises two tranches: a US Dollar-denominated senior unsecured conventional term-loan facility (the Conventional Facility) of US$ 882 million and a US Dollar-denominated senior Shari&rsquo;ah-compliant facility (the Islamic Facility) of US$ 618 million. <br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />Commenting on the successful raising of the loan tranche, Alba&rsquo;s Chairman of Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa said:<br />&ldquo;The success of the Line 6 syndicated loan facility underscores Alba&rsquo;s strong business fundamentals and the confidence the financial markets have in the Line 6 Expansion Project.&nbsp; We look forward to the full execution of the Line 6 project which upon completion will make Alba the largest single site smelter in the world.&rsquo;&rsquo;<br /><br />Gulf International Bank B.S.C., J.P. Morgan Limited, and National Bank of Bahrain B.S.C. acted as Global Coordinators to assist Alba in arranging the Facilities. <br /><br />Expected to start metal production in early 2019, Line 6 Expansion Project will boost the per-annum production by 540,000 metric tonnes upon its full ramp-up, bringing Alba&rsquo;s total production capacity to 1,500,000 metric tonnes per annum to make Alba the world&rsquo;s largest single-site aluminium smelter.</p>