The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilateral development bank focused on energy investments and owned by the ten Arab oil exporting countries, successfully signed an oversubscribed Shariah-compliant syndicated financing with a total amount of SR1,500 million ($400m). The five-year financing of the commodity murabaha facility was provided by a group of leading Saudi banks consisting of Banque Saudi Fransi, Riyad Bank, SABB and Samba Financial Group. HSBC Saudi Arabia acted as the lead arranger for the credit deal on behalf of APICORP. The financing facility will be used for general corporate purposes, including expanding APICORP's portfolio of equity investments in regional energy projects. Commenting on the financing deal, Hesham Farid, managing director, treasury & capital markets, APICORP said, "The successful signing of the new syndicated financing facility underscores the financial strength and the banking industry's confidence in APICORP's business model. There is a strong appetite among lenders to provide financing to APICORP, which is a testament to our robust balance sheet, excellent track record and overall credit worthiness. Faisal Qadri, managing director, head of debt capital markets and structured finance at HSBC Saudi Arabia commented, "HSBC Saudi Arabia is proud of its longstanding relationship with APICORP and is pleased to have partnered on this successful murabaha deal as a coordinator." This transaction also points at APICORP's ability to tap into multiple funding markets; regional and international, as evidenced by its RegS Sukuks, 144a Bonds, Asia Dim Sum and Formosa deals. Furthermore, the strong credit worthiness is backed by the AA3 rating by Moody's, as well as APICORP's enhanced credit profile from stable to positive. The latter is especially noteworthy, given the prevailing economic conditions. — SG
