Saudi’s Mobily signs SAR7.9bn refinancing with banks

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Arabia’s second largest mobile telephone operator, said on Wednesday it had signed a SAR7.9bn ($2.11bn) refinancing facility with a group of banks.

The murabaha facility will refinance a significant part of Mobily’s current debt, the company said in a statement, adding that the new facility was unsecured and had a seven years maturity, with a two-year grace period and five years repayment period.

A murabaha is a cost-plus-profit arrangement which complies with Islamic finance standards.

The group of banks included National Commercial Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Samba Financial Group, Saudi British Bank, Riyad Bank and Al Rajhi Bank, it said.