Cenomi Centers signs SAR 5.25B credit facilities with multiple banks

Logo of Arabian Centres Co. (Cenomi Centers)

Arabian Centres Co. (Cenomi Centers) signed, on Feb. 13, a Shariah-compliant guaranteed Murabaha credit facility agreement and a revolving Murabaha facility agreement with lower borrowing costs and more flexible covenants compared to existing facilities, with multiple banks and for a total amount of SAR 5.25 billion.

According to a statement to Tadawul, the funds will be used to pay the outstanding amounts of the existing facilities and to support the company’s future growth.

HSBC Saudi Arabia led the arranging of this syndication as exclusive Financial Coordinator and Lead Sustainability Coordinator. The agreement also included Saudi National Bank (SNB), Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) and Arab National Bank (ANB) as bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers, along with Commercial Bank of Dubai, Mashreq Bank and QNB KSA as bookrunners.

An agreement was also signed with SNB as Murabaha SAR investment agent, Murabaha USD investment agent, global agent, and security agent. Mashreq Bank was signed as sustainability co-coordinator.

Moreover, Cenomi Centers signed agreements with SAB and SNB as account banks, while ANB, SAB and SNB as term SAR Murabaha participants.

Commercial Bank of Dubai and Mashreq Bank were among the agreements as term USD Murabaha participants, SNB and QNB KSA as revolving SAR Murabaha participants, and Commercial Bank of Dubai and Mashreq Bank as revolving USD Murabaha participants.

The statement pointed out that the financing period of the sustainability-linked revolving Murabaha facility agreement was four years, subject to two one-year extensions, while the sustainability-linked term Murabaha— tranche A and tranche B—were 12 years each.

The guarantees provided in exchange for financing included promissory notes, mortgage of some movable assets and some immovable properties for the benefit of financers, the statement added.

The amounts utilized under the facilities are to be used by the company to repay the outstanding amounts of the existing facilities, pay fees, costs and expenses incurred in connection with the new facilities; and for the general corporate and working capital purposes of the company.

The company succeeded in securing better terms of funding, including an improved covenants package and better pricing terms in comparison to its existing facilities, the statement highlighted, indicating that the new facilities are structured as sustainability-linked financings, adhering to the LMA’s sustainability-linked loan principles.

Through the transaction’s sustainability-linked mechanism, Cenomi Centers commits to certain targets with respect to three sustainability Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which are reducing carbon emissions, increasing the percentage of assets connected to the KSA national grid, and increasing the percentage of women in certain leadership roles at the company, the statement pointed out.