Two of the leading banks in the region - Bank ABC and Emirates NBD Capital (Emcap) - have joined hands to arrange a debut Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR)-linked $400 million dual tranche syndicated term loan facility for BankDhofar.

Both the banks acted as joint co-ordinators, joint underwriters, initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners (together the Imlabs) for BankDhofar's loan facility. In addition, Emirates NBD Bank also acted as the facility agent on the transaction.

BankDhofar has become the first Omani bank and one of the first financial institutions in the region to raise a SOFR-linked syndicated term facility.

The facility incorporates a 2-year, and a 3-year tranche. It was over 1.8x oversubscribed mainly due to the appetite in the 3-year tranche with 15 banks from the GCC and Asian investors participating in it. The proceeds will be primarily utilized to refinance BankDhofar’s upcoming maturing facilities.

The syndication was initially launched at $300,000,00 and was upsized to $400,000,000 due to strong over-subscription from the banks.

The facility was signed last month and on the back of strong support received from the banks, was subsequently upsized recently.

Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait-DIFC Branch, Doha Bank, Gulf Bank KSCP, Gulf International Bank, National Bank of Bahrain, State Bank of India WBB Bahrain, The Arab Investment Company joined as mandated lead arrangers.

Commercial Bank of Dubai, Mashreqbank The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah joined the facility as lead arrangers, while National Bank of Fujairah, National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain and United Arab Bank joined as arrangers.

BankDhofar’s CEO Abdul Hakeem Al Ojaili said despite the challenging market conditions, the success and oversubscription of this transaction is an evidence of the confidence in BankDhofar and Oman.

"Being the first bank in Oman to price a syndicated facility off SOFR averages, represents a significant achievement for us as the industry transitions away from the Interbank Offered Rate (IBOR). The transaction also demonstrates BankDhofar’s position as a leader in adapting and aligning its systems and processes to embrace change," he added.

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