THE Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company Ltd. (Yasref) has announced the signing of unsecured corporate finance credit facilities in an amount equal to $4.7 billion to refinance an existing shareholders credit facility. The credit facilities have been executed with a syndicate of 26 local, regional and international financial institutions and have been oversubscribed whereby most participating institutions were significantly scaled back. The $4.7 billion facilities are broken into two tranches: (a) a US dollar denominated 7-year term facility entered into with 17 participating regional and international financial institutions in an aggregate amount of $3.1 billion with a margin over LIBOR of 105 bps; and (b) a Saudi Arabian riyal denominated 7-year term facility entered into with 9 participating local financial institutions in an aggregate amount of SR6 billion ($1.6 billion) with a margin over SAIBOR of 100 bps. The agreement reflects the financial community's perception of Yasref's credit and trust in the Company's position as the anchor project in the Yanbu Industrial City that signifies the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's ability to compete on a global scale in the energy sector given it has built its world class facility to the highest environmental and technical standards. Yasref Chairman Abdallah I. Al-Saadan said: "The participation by these esteemed global and local financial institutions represents continued trust in Yasref and in the Saudi economy as a whole. Both shareholders - Saudi Aramco and Sinopec - are proud of the many accomplishments of Yasref that place it among the best global refining landmarks." This syndicated credit facility allows Yasref to refinance its existing senior shareholders' credit facility extended by the joint venture partners as part of their initial investment in building a world-class fully-integrated landmark refining complex. "This represents a major milestone for Yasref and our employees as well as changes the Company's financial structure and aligns it with the market," said Yasref President & Chief Executive Officer Mohammad S. Alshammari. "It also supports our continued commitment to excellence and ensures that the Company will run and operate according to the highest commercial standards. This will definitely enhance Yasref's competitive position on the market stage," he added.
