NBK extends $280mn credit facility to Styrene Company

Another demonstration of our leading role as supporters of enterprise: Al-Fulaij

KUWAIT CITY, July 12: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has concluded a financing agreement with The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), giving the latter access to $280 million in credit facilities.

The loan, secured with NBK acting as sole underwriter, will be used for general corporate purpose spending at TKSC.

The agreement was signed on behalf of NBK by CEO – Kuwait Salah AlFulaij, along with his TKSC counterpart Adel Yousuf Al-Saad Al-Munifi. Also present at the signing were TKSC’s Chief Financial Officer, Ghadeer Abdullah Al-Ajami, and NBK’s Pradeep Handa, General Manager of the bank’s Foreign Corporate, Oil & Trade Finance Group.

EQUATE Petrochemical Company, Kuwait’s first international joint-venture in this industry, provided technical and financial support to TKSC, which contributed to expediting this loan with NBK. EQUATE is the single operator of Greater EQUATE, which includes The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company (KPPC) and The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC) under one fully integrated operational umbrella at Kuwait’s Shuaiba Industrial Area.

The financing deal is “yet another demonstration of NBK’s leading role as facilitator of economic development in Kuwait,” said Al-Fulaij. “It demonstrates once again how committed we are to fostering the spirit of national enterprise in Kuwait.”

“While NBK is proud to offer operational and financial support, we take equal pride in our ability to provide

A photo from the event additional services to our corporate cus- ing, NBK provides corporate customers tomers,” he added. In addition to bank- with advisory services and consultancy aimed at facilitating the development of the Kuwaiti economy and spurring its continued growth, said the bank’s CEO – Kuwait.

With a long track-record of securing large-scale funding, NBK has earned the trust of large corporations and national companies across Kuwait, AlFulaij added. The bank’s long history of local, regional and global successes has earned it a reputation as a developmentsavvy partner able to play a pivotal role in the economy, he said. “I’m proud to say that NBK has become the goto bank for major entities in the Kuwaiti corporate sector”.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, TKSC CEO Al-Munifi said his company was proud to have this partnership with NBK “for access to $280m for the company’s general corporate purposes,” he said. “The very fact that we were able to secure credit facilities on such a scale speaks volumes of TKSC’s competitive status, and says a great deal about our solid financial standing.”

According to Al-Munifi, TKSC will use the credit facilities for general corporate purposes. “Part of the funds will be directed to reinforcing activities that enhance our competitive edge,” he explained.

Al-Munifi lauded NBK for its continued commitment to providing credit facilities, which support the industrial sector as a whole and the petrochemical field in specific.

As Kuwait’s first and only producer of Styrene Monomer, The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC) was established in 2004 as an international joint venture between The Kuwait Aromatics Company (KARO) and The Dow Chemical Company (Dow).