UAE’s AD Ports Group secures $2bn syndicated corporate facility

AD Ports Group has signed a ‘General Corporate Facility’ agreement with a syndicate of 13 regional and international banks.

The multi-currency facility, equivalent to around $2bn, includes three tranches amounting to EUR600m, $620m, and Dhs2,863m with a tenure of up to 2.5 years, announced the ports’ operator.

The demand for the facility received commitments of $7.4bn in total from the participating banks and was 3.7x oversubscribed.

AD Ports reinforces development plans

In addition to strong demand for this new syndicate facility, AD Ports Group managed to improve pricing compared with the $1bn RCF that the group had secured in 2021.

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, managing director and group CEO, AD Ports Group, said, “The success in raising the $2bn facility reflects our profitable and enduring business as well as underscoring AD Ports Group’s strong financial position and the confidence that the banking sector has in our organisation’s robust long-term financial performance. This recent announcement also goes further to reinforce our ambitious strategic development plans and the UAE’s wise leadership’s vision for economic diversification.”

We have secured a USD $2 billion corporate facility from a syndicate of 13 regional and international banks. The multi-currency syndicated facility received healthy demand as it was 3.7 times oversubscribed.

Read more: https://t.co/LYUR19F13g#ADPortsGroup #Agreement #Facility pic.twitter.com/Uwi0rPYMEa

— AD Ports Group (@ADPortsGroup) April 4, 2023

AD Ports Group is A+ credit rated by both Fitch and S&P Global, which reaffirmed their ratings post-listing and most recent announcements of acquisitions.

First Abu Dhabi Bank and Citibank were the coordinators and book runners, while Mizuho Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank were the additional book runners.

Société Générale and Emirates NBD Capital acted as mandated lead arrangers.

Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC Bank Middle East, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, and Bank of China were lead arrangers while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Dubai (DIFC) Branch acted as arrangers.

The facility agent for the agreement is Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

Other recent developments

Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group announced it had completed the merger of KEZAD Communities and Al Eskan Al Jamae (EAJ) into a $1.9bn (Dhs7bn) integrated staff accommodation company.

The merger has created one of Abu Dhabi’s largest integrated staff accommodation companies in which AD Ports has retained a 52 per cent controlling stake.

Read: AD Ports completes merger of KEZAD Communities and Al Eskan Al Jamae

KEZAD Communities, which was founded in 2005 and previously operated under ZonesCorp, is an integral part of the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD Group) – under AD Ports’ Economic Cities & Free Zones Cluster. EAJ, on the other end, is a real estate development and management company that owns and operates ICAD Residential City in Mussafah.

Last month, the logistics firm also closed several deals including the partnership with Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) to develop several projects in ports within the economic zone.

Also read: AD Ports, Suez Canal Economic Zone partner to develop projects in Egypt

The ports operator signed a 30-year concession agreement with the government in Cairo in March to develop, manage and operate the Egyptian multi-purpose terminal in the Red Sea port of Safaga in a deal worth $200m.

AD Ports also signed two additional 15-year agreements, an MoU and three head of terms (HoT) concerning ports located in the Egyptian Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea region. The deals allow for expanded access to multipurpose terminals, cruise routes and logistics capabilities in Safaga, Ain Sokhna, Port Said, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Al Arish.

Related read: AD Ports Group reports strong growth, global expansion in first year as publicly listed entity