Emirates Aluminium (Emal) is seeking to raise US$4bn to finance expansion, according to a banker familiar with the plan
The Abu Dhabi-based company will attempt to raise US$500mn in loans from four export-credit agencies, US$2bn to US$2.5bn from commercial-bank loans and the remainder by selling bonds, a banker who wished to remain anonymous told Bloomburg.
The amortising bank loans, with a tenor of 15.5 years, could be both conventional and Islamic, although the proportions haven?t been finalised, the banker said.
Banks were sent requests for proposals and have until September 28 to bid. The fundraising for the US$4.58bn project was likely to be completed before year-end the banker added.
The debt will finance Emal?s so-called Phase II expansion, which will increase annual output to 1.3mn mt by June 2015. The smelter units already producing are set to reach a capacity of 800,000 tonnes of aluminum annually by the end of this year.
