ADNOC in talks with banks to obtain ‘huge’ syndicated loan

DUBAI / Reuters

State-owned energy giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is in talks with regional and international banks to obtain a syndicated loan worth several billion US dollars, banking sources familiar with the discussions said on Monday.
The loan will be ‘huge’, two bankers said; a third said it was expected to be in a range of $4 billion to $5 billion. The facility would have various maturities of up to five years.
The loan financing is one of a number of fund-raising plans which the company is considering. It is also discussing the possibility of issuing a project bond that could be as large as $3 billion in size, bankers said, declining to be named because of commercial sensitivities.
An Adnoc spokesman said: “As announced on July 10, the company is expanding its partnership model and creating new partnership and co-investment opportunities across all areas of its value chain.” Alongside this new partnership model, Adnoc is also taking a more active approach to managing its portfolio of assets and balance sheet to both unlock value and drive growth.
“Furthermore, as per the normal course of its financial planning, Adnoc is also looking at the most effective capital structure for the
efficient management of its business.”
“Adnoc is looking at funding for different projects and talks have just begun — nothing has been finalised,” said a regional banker.
The company has not appointed banks to lead the planned loan transaction, but a banker said ‘things will move quickly’ and a mandate was likely to be awarded within next couple of weeks.