Abu Dhabi’s TDIC To Raise $500m Loan To Pay Debt

Tourism Development & Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi-owned developer of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums, raised a $500 million loan to pay existing debt, according to three bankers with knowledge of the deal.

The five-year facility was obtained from a group of seven banks and pays 1.5 percentage points including fees more than the London Interbank Offered Rate, said the bankers, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The money will help pay a three-year $600 million loan that carries a margin of 1.35 percentage points above Libor, the bankers said.

A spokeswoman for TDIC, who asked not to be identified because of corporate policy, said the company couldn’t comment.

TDIC is one of four Abu Dhabi-owned companies whose debt carries a sovereign guarantee, according to a banker. Abu Dhabi, the richest and biggest of seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates, holds about six per cent of global oil reserves.

TDIC is building local branches of the Paris and New York museums on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, which is being developed as part of the emirate’s push to diversify its economy away from oil. The $27 billion of projects on the island include the Zayed National Museum and a New York University campus, while the company is also building homes and offices on the location.

Mubadala Development Co., another state-backed company, earlier this year paid 45 basis points, or 0.45 percentage points, above Libor on a $2 billion credit facility, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Interest on the three-year revolving loan may rise to 75 basis points over Libor depending on the amount drawn.

Syndicated loans in the Middle East and North Africa have risen 14 percent this year from the same period a year ago to $42.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc are the biggest arrangers this year, according to the data.