Emirates District Cooling Company LLC (EMICOOL), a Joint Venture between Union Properties PJSC and M’Sharie, (the private equity arm of Dubai Investments PJSC), signed a Syndicated Islamic Finance Facility of AED 669 million on 12th May 2008 with seven leading banks to fund the first phase of its AED 2.5 billion expansion plan.
The Syndicated Islamic Finance Facility is arranged jointly by Badr Al Islami, Standard Chartered Bank and Emirates Islamic Bank as Initial Joint Mandated Lead Arrangers. The Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Bank International and Union National Bank acted as Joint Mandated Lead Arrangers in the syndicate.
The signing ceremony of this Syndicated Islamic Finance Facility agreement was attended by Anis Al Jallaf, Chairman of Dubai Investments and Union Properties, Khalid Kalban, MD & CEO, Dubai Investments, Abdul Aziz Yaqoob Al Serkal, Managing Director of M’Sharie and Chairman of Emicool and Simon Azzam, CEO of Union Properties.
“This syndication opens up new strategic avenues for EMICOOL, and will help to set the company on a sustainable high growth trajectory,” Al Serkal said. “We view the enthusiastic response from the banking community as further proof of EMICOOL’s distinguished market reputation and excellent growth potential.”
“We are also pleased that we were able to secure the financing at a rate that, under prevailing market conditions, can be considered extremely competitive,” Al Serkal added.
The facility is repayable in one bullet payment within 3 years, from the proceeds of a future Islamic Finance Facility or a Sukuk issue (the mandate for which has already been awarded to Badr Al Islami, Mashreqbank psc).
Abdul Aziz Serkal said, “EMICOOL has drawn up ambitious plans for the future, and continued expansion of production capacity forms the centerpiece of our business strategy. As the demand for District Cooling is continuously on the rise across the UAE and Middle East region, it has become imperative for EMICOOL to optimize production capacity and further enhance its technological capabilities to meet growing market requirements more efficiently.”
Mr. Serkal further added that “The financing proceeds will mainly be used to fund EMICOOL’s projects at Dubai Motor City and Dubai Investments Park. EMICOOL estimates that its ambitious expansion plans will require an investment of AED 2.5 billion over the next 5 years. In this regard, Emicool expects to raise twice the amount of the current syndication in the future to refinance the existing facility and meet future requirements.”
