Egyptian Electricity Holding signs $900 million syndicated loan - sources
By Davide Barbuscia
DUBAI, June 13 (Reuters) - State-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) has completed a $900 million syndicated loan, banking sources close to the matter said.
The debt facility, guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance, was coordinated by Credit Suisse (IOB: 0QP5.IL - news) and HSBC. It was marketed to other banks at around $700 million but given banks' oversubscription the size has been raised to $900 million, bankers said.
EEHC, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has offered lenders a margin interest and bank fees of more than 500 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), the bankers said.
The debt facility, signed on Tuesday, is one of a few debt transactions currently in the market, demonstrating banks' increased interest in Egypt, where business conditions are slowly improving under a three-year IMF loan programme tied to fiscal and economic reforms.
Other deals include a $600 million loan for National Bank (Athens: ETEE.AT - news) of Egypt (NBE), arranged by a group of lenders comprising NBE, HSBC, Standard Chartered (BSE: 580001.BO - news) , Citi, Emirates NBD, Bank ABC, Rakbank and Commercial Bank of Qatar. The loan is now being syndicated to a larger group of banks.
Banque Misr, the country's second largest bank, will follow with a $500 million loan coordinated by Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) , sources told Reuters.
EEHC is not new to the international loan market. In 2015 it raised a $521 million loan provided by a group of Egyptian banks and National Bank of Abu Dhabi – now First Abu Dhabi Bank.
The following year, the utility borrowed 3.5 billion euros through a debt facility backed by export credit agencies for the construction of three gas-fired power plants. For those projects, worth 6 billion euros, it also raised a $1.2 billion loan with local banks. (Editing by Alexandra Hudson)