Egpyt’s EGPC Is Said to Raise $750 Million Loan With HSBC, FAB

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa): Egypt’s national oil company raised a $750 million loan to fund growth, according to people with knowledge of the deal.

Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. secured the five-year loan from HSBC Holdings Plc, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC and Mashreqbank PSC, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The lenders are now also offering the loan to other banks and syndication for the facility is expected to close shortly.

Officials at the Ministry of Petroleum didn’t respond to requests for comment.

EGPC is among Egyptian companies borrowing in foreign currencies as they seek to benefit from investors’ changing perception of the Arab world’s most populous nation. The government raised $4 billion last month from a three-part bond offering that received more than five times that amount in bids.

A unit of EGPC raised $400 million through a five-year loan from a group of banks in January that was also led by HSBC, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. EGPC and its units secured the equivalent of $3.27 billion in loans last year, according to the data.

Egypt received assistance from the IMF in 2016 after devaluing the pound and cutting subsidies as part of a sweeping program to overhaul the economy. Growth has steadily rebounded, with the government targeting an increase of 5.6 percent in gross domestic product for the fiscal year ending in June.

Source: Bloomberg Business News