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By Davide Barbuscia
DUBAI, June 23 (Reuters) - A consortium of international
investors obtained an $8 billion bridge loan provided by 17
banks for a gas infrastructure deal Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company (ADNOC) announced on Tuesday, sources said.
ADNOC said earlier it had signed a $10 billion deal with
investors including Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield
Asset Management, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, Ontario
Teachers' Pension Plan Board, NH Investment & Securities and
Italy's Snam.
The investors will acquire a 49% stake in ADNOC Gas Pipeline
Assets, a newly formed subsidiary of ADNOC with lease rights to
38 pipelines, with ADNOC holding the remaining 51% majority
stake, the company said. The pipeline assets were valued at
$20.7 billion.
The acquisition was backed by an $8 billion bridge loan
provided by 17 banks, said three sources familiar with the
matter.
The bank group includes Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank,
BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Emirates NBD
, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), HSBC,
Japan's MUFG, Societe Generale, and Standard Chartered
.
The financing, which received commitments of almost $14
billion, has a duration of two years and two six-month extension
options. The group of investors plans to replace the loan with a
bond issuance at or before its maturity, the sources said.
Standard Chartered said in a statement on Tuesday that it
worked as senior mandated lead arranger for the financing of the
acquisition, without disclosing details of the loan terms.
Emirates NBD, FAB, MUFG, and Societe Generale declined to
comment while the other banks did not immediately respond to
comment requests. ADNOC declined to comment.
ADNOC will lease its ownership of the pipeline assets to
ADNOC Gas Pipelines for 20 years in return for a volume-based
tariff. The new subsidiary will distribute 100% of free cash to
the investors as quarterly dividends.
(Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar; editing by Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
