IslamicFinance.de

Dubai-headquartered offshore supply vessel company Stanford Marine Group (SMG) has secured a AED 1.2 billion ($326.7 million) Islamic syndicated structured finance facility arranged by Noor Bank. The transaction is one of the first fully Islamic-backed finance deals in the oilfield services sector. Other participating banks in the deal were: Barwa Bank, First Gulf Bank and Qatar Islamic Bank which acted as mandated lead arrangers, while Ajman Bank and United Arab Bank joined the deal as Lead Arrangers. Noor Bank PJSC also acted as Investment and Security Agent for the deal. The facility will be used to consolidate Stanford Marine Group’s existing conventional and Islamic facilities into a single tranche facility.

A unit of Stanford Marine Group has closed a 1.2 billion dirham ($326.7 million) sharia-compliant loan deal with a group of banks to consolidate its debts into one facility at a cheaper cost, the arranging bank said on Monday. The murabaha-structured facility for offshore vessel operator Stanford Asia Holding Company was arranged by Dubai-based Noor Bank, with five other banks from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar taking part, it said. No pricing or length of the murabaha, a cost-plus-profit arrangement, were provided.

Standard Chartered Bank and Noor Islamic Bank operated jointly as Initial Mandate Lead Arrangers and Structuring Banks for a five years USD 175Mn Senior Secured Club Facility for Stanford Marine Group. The proceeds of the term loan have partly been utilized to refinance existing debt. Standard Chartered Bank was Facility Agent, Investment Agent, and Hedging Bank. The facility offers growth capital to acquire second hand and/or build offshore supply vessels.
The deal conatins dual currency tranches (AED and USD) and Conventional and Islamic Murabaha tranches.