Huge demand for Alba Line 6 syndicated loan

Manama  : Aluminium Bahrain  (Alba) said it has increased the size of its commercial loan facility to US$1.5 billion due to heavy oversubscription, which resulted in competitive market terms. 

Alba had originally planned to raise between US$500 million - US$750m to finance Company’s Line 6 expansion project.

The US$1.5bn commercial facility will carry an interest margin of 325 basis point per annum over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). This facility is expected to have a 7-year tenor and the principal amount repayable in eight semi-annual instalments, including a 3-year grace period on principal payments to support the Line 6 construction period.

The commercial loan facility will comprise two tranches: a US Dollar-denominated senior unsecured conventional term-loan facility (the Conventional Facility) of US$882m and a US Dollar-denominated senior Shari’ah-compliant facility (the Islamic Facility) of US$618m.

Commenting on behalf of the Company, Alba’s Chairman of Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa said: “The overwhelming demand is a testament to Alba’s solid balance sheet and the strong underlying fundamentals of the Line 6 Expansion
Project.”

Gulf International Bank B.S.C., J.P. Morgan Limited, and National Bank of Bahrain B.S.C. are acting as Global Coordinators to assist Alba in arranging the commercial loan facility.

Expected to start metal production in early 2019, Line 6 Expansion Project will boost the per-annum production by 540,000 metric tonnes upon its full ramp-up, bringing Alba’s total production capacity to 1,500,000 metric tonnes per annum to make Alba the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter.