A syndication of Jordanian and international banks has completed the long-term refinancing of the leveraged buyout of Aramex International Ltd by Dubai-based private equity firm Rasmala Partners Ltd. The syndicate has extended a 22 million Jordanian Dinars ($31 million) senior term-loan to Aramex Holdings Ltd., the parent of Aramex International Ltd.
The investment-banking arm of the Amman-based Export and Finance Bank arranged and managed the facility. Jordan Kuwait Bank was the lead bank with co-lead participants including Bank of Jordan, Export and Finance Bank and the London-based Jordan International Bank.
The secured loan has a floating interest rate over its five-year term and has been structured to allow original lenders to on-sell all or part of their commitment to other banks and financial institutions in the future. In addition, the borrower has the option to prepay the facility or refinance in another currency.
Aramex is a provider of international and domestic express package delivery, freight forwarding, logistics and other transportation services primarily to, from and within the Middle East and the Sub-continent. It has over 2,090 employees working in 132 offices in 34 countries.
Aramex was the first Arab company to list successfully on NASDAQ. In January 2002, the Rasmala Buyout Fund LP, a Middle East focused private equity fund based in Dubai along with Fadi Ghandour, president and CEO of Aramex, and other co-investors, launched an approved tender offer to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Aramex.
The acquisition of Aramex shares was financed 39 percent through equity investors, and 61 percent through a combination of senior and mezzanine debt. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
