Burgan Bank in early talks for $350m loan refinancing

New transaction could have three-year tenor

DUBAI, Nov 5, (RTRS): Kuwait’s Burgan Bank, the country’s third largest lender by assets, is in early discussions with banks for the refinancing of a $350 million loan due in December, sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

The bank raised the original debt facility in 2015 with a group of seven banks, including regional and international lenders.

The new loan would refinance the amount raised at that time, but the bank is considering extending the maturity of the facility by one year, meaning the new transaction could have a threeyear tenor. A spokesman for Burgan Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The banks that participated in the 2015 loan were Commerzbank, Emirates NBD, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo.

The new loan will “most likely” be provided by the same group of banks, but no decision has been taken yet as the discussions are at an early stage, said one of the sources.

Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is rated ‘A+’ with a stable outlook by Fitch. In a statement last month, the agency cited “an extremely high probability of support from the Kuwaiti authorities to all domestic banks if needed” as one of the reasons for its rating decision.

The Kuwaiti lender said last month its nine-month profit attributable to shareholders amounted to KD 53.9 million ($178 million), against KD 48.6 million one year earlier.