The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Reuters
Qatar’s Ahli Bank has started talks to raise a $250 million three-year loan, banking sources maintained.
The loan will be partially used to refinance an existing $200 million facility the bank signed in September 2014 and is due to mature next year, two of the sources said on condition of anonymity as the negotiations are private.
One of the sources said the Qatari bank was talking to five banks about the loan, but declined to name them.
Ahli Bank, a mid-sized Qatari lender, declined to comment.
Banks in the Gulf have been seeking to raise funds from the market, in the form of loans or bond issues, as their liquidity has been squeezed by governments withdrawing oil revenues put on deposit to bridge budget shortfalls caused by nearly two years of low crude prices.
Ahli Bank last month completed a $500 million debut bond issue with a five-year tenure. The sale was arranged by Barclays, HSBC and QNB Capital.
Founded in 1983, Ahli Bank QSC is a Qatari-owned financial institution that serves individual consumers, small businesses and corporate customers with a range of corporate banking, retail banking, treasury and investments, international banking and private banking.
Ahli United Bank, Bahrain’s largest bank, was the largest shareholder in Ahli Bank. In 2012, Ahli United sold all but 1,000 shares of its stake in the bank. At the time, Ahli Bank was considered the seventh-largest bank in Qatar.