JEDDAH: Bank Al Jazira has signed an agreement to grant medium-term Islamic financing worth SR242 million ($64.53 million) to Eastern Industrial Co. (EICO), Al Riyadh daily reported Thursday. The financing, the second for this project by the bank, will partially fund EICO's project to set up a corrosion resistant fiberglass plant in Jubail Industrial City. Bank Al Jazira had previously signed an agreement with EICO for a SR150 million bridge loan for a financing of SR200 million granted by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, it added. EICO has taken delivery of most of the plant's equipment and machinery and has completed all civil works at the project's site, Faysal Hamza, EICO's managing director, said according to the daily. The plant will be the largest-of-its-kind in the Middle East region and will have an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons with a plan to double it to 120,000 tons, the report said. In April, last year, Eastern Petrochemical Company (EPETCO) has signed a loan contract for SR200 million ($54 million) from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) to build a plant in Jubail for the production of corrosion resistant E-CR fiberglass. Dr Mohammed Al Najjar, President and CEO of EPETCO, EPETCO's factory will be the largest factory in the Middle East for the production of corrosion resistant E-CR glass fiber strands and various related products such as chopped strand mat (CSM), woven roving, and chopped strands. The plant's production capacity will be 60 000 tons per year initially. There are plans to raise this to 120 tons during the first two years. Separately, UAE property firm Eshraq plans to sell a 55 percent stake worth an estimated $224 million in an initial public offering in February and list on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange, a banker close to the deal said Wednesday. The Abu Dhabi-based banker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several UAE banks are involved in the IPO which will offers 825 million shares. Eshraq has a total capital of AED1.5 billion ($408.4 million), he said. "After the IPO, the shares will be listed on ADX," he said. The UAE markets have not seen an IPO in about two years as the global economic downturn and Dubai's debt crisis dented investor appetite.
