Bahrain’s Alba Plans to Raise $1.5 Billion in Bank Debt

The company’s financial performance has recently been hurt by lower London Metal Exchange (LME) prices, ongoing US-China trade tensions and a drop in aluminium demand in North America and Europe.

THURSDAY 05, SEPTEMBER 2019 BY KUDAKWASHE MUZORIWA

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), owner of one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, plans to raise $1.5 billion in bank debt to refinance loans it obtained in 2016 to back its Line 6 expansion project.

Alba has mandated three Bahrain-based banks—National Bank of Bahrain, Bank ABC and Gulf International Bank—to underwrite the facility, which is now being syndicated to the wider bank market.

The company’s original loan, divided into an $882 million conventional tranche and a $618 million Shari’ah-compliant tranche, had a seven-year maturity and was coordinated by JP Morgan, National Bank of Bahrain and Gulf International, reported Reuters.