IJGlobal Magazine honors NBK-Bahrain for best deal
NBK Bahrain was presented with IJGlobal magazine’s award for the best Mining and Metal deal in the Mena Region in 2016 for its participation and role in the success of ALBA Line 6 Expansion Project syndicated facility.
This extremely prestigious award acknowledges the bank’s outstanding contributions to the successful closing of the largest corporate loan in the history of Bahrain. NBK Bahrain played the role of Lead Arranger of the $1.5 billion facility, which comprises two tranches, Conventional Credit Facility in the amount of $882 million and Ijarah facility for $618 million.
IJGlobal Magazine is Euromoney Publications’ flagship international infrastructure finance title, and its Middle East and North Africa Awards celebrates the best in class deals in energy and infrastructure over the past year. This year’s award for the best Mining and Metal deal was presented to NBK-Bahrain General Manager Ali Al-Fardan, during a Grand Award Ceremony on March 21, 2017.
On receiving the award, Al-Fardan said: “We are extremely delighted that our efforts have been recognized by an independent agency like IJGlobal Award. The international award is a real testament to the role NBK-Bahrain plays in supporting major and strategic projects across the Kingdom benefiting from the support of NBK Group. It also reflects the growing role that NBK-Bahrain plays in the corporate banking segment”. He added that this award represents one of the highest possible accolades in the world of infrastructure and project finance and is considered a reward for the hard work and ingenuity our team has shown in 2016, noting that NBK Bahrain is honored to be the first branch across NBK Group to receive such a great recognition.
He highlighted that the importance of this award also stems from being associated with Alba; Bahrain’s national aluminum producer and one of the largest and most modern aluminum smelters in the world. The Company was established in 1971 to help diversify Bahrain’s economy, and has been expanding since. Line 6 Expansion Project will have a big impact on Bahrain’s economy as well as strengthen the Kingdom’s position as the hub for the downstream aluminum industry in the GCC. The project which is expected to start metal production in early 2019, will boost the per-annum production by 540,000 metric tons upon its full ramp-up, bringing Alba’s total production capacity to 1,500,000 metric tons per annum to make Alba the world’s largest single-site aluminum smelter.”
NBK Group is proud to be part of the growing Bahraini Aluminum sector, one of the key industrial growth driver in the region. The bank has been present in Bahrain since 1977 and enjoys strong and historical relationships with the major Bahraini and international companies.