Stanford Asia Holding Co was able to get a loan facility worth USD 300 million as replacement for its existing debt. Standard Chartered, Emirates NBD, Mubadala GE Capital, Noor Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Barwa Bank and Mashreqbank PSC arranged the five-year syndicated loan. The facility was oversubscribed.
Stanford Asia Holding is a subsidiary of Stanford Marine Group, an oil and gas services firm based in Dubai. Abraaj Group, meanwhile, holds a 51% stake in Stanford Marine. A source told Bloomberg that Abraaj had planned to conduct an initial public offering of Stanford Marine. The person added that the share sale was scheduled for the first quarter of next year. Stanford Marine is engaged in the business of chartering, constructing and repairing offshore support vessels for oil and gas firms.
Data gathered by Bloomberg showed that syndicated loan issuances this year had fallen to 7.7% in North Africa and the Middle East. The data also revealed that Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings were the biggest loan arrangers for 2013.
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