CAIRO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Riyadh-based Fawaz Alhokair Group borrowed 1.61 billion Egyptian pounds ($294 million) in a syndicated loan on Sunday to construct a shopping mall near Cairo that will be the largest in Africa, Al-Hokair said.
The Mall of Arabia will lie on 441,000 square metres in Sixth of October city 20 kilometres west of Cairo and cost a total 2.92 billion pounds, the loan's lead arranger and manager, Commercial International Bank, said in a statement.
It is being built by Egyptian Centres, a subsidiary of Al-Hokair.
The loan, raised by seven Egyptian banks, includes a U.S. dollar portion and an Egyptian pound portion, with the mix to be determined later, said Muhanad Awad, head of assets management and treasury at Al-Hokair.
'It will be determined when we know how much revenue is coming in Egyptian pounds and how much in dollars,' said Awad. Al-Hokair has the option taking the entire portion in dollars, he added.
The dollar portion will be priced at between 1.0 and 2.5 percent above the London interbank offered rate (Libor) and the Egyptian pound portion at between 1.5 and 3.5 percent above the Central Bank of Egypt corridor rate, Awad added.
The mall's built-up area will occupy 260,000 square metres of the mall, with 176,000 square metres allocated for leasing, the CIB statement said.
With revenues of 5 billion Saudi riyals ($1.33 billion) in 2007/08, Hokair is the biggest shopping shopping center operator in Saudi Arabia, the statement added.
In addition to CIB, the lending banks are Banque du Caire, Export Development Bank of Egypt, Egyptian Arab Land Bank, the Housing and Development Bank, Bank of Alexandria and the Arab Investment Bank.
(Writing by Patrick Werr, editing by Martin Golan) Keywords: EGYPT ALHOKAIR (patrick.werr@thomsonreuters.com; +20 2 2578 3290/1) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The Mall of Arabia will lie on 441,000 square metres in Sixth of October city 20 kilometres west of Cairo and cost a total 2.92 billion pounds, the loan's lead arranger and manager, Commercial International Bank, said in a statement.
It is being built by Egyptian Centres, a subsidiary of Al-Hokair.
The loan, raised by seven Egyptian banks, includes a U.S. dollar portion and an Egyptian pound portion, with the mix to be determined later, said Muhanad Awad, head of assets management and treasury at Al-Hokair.
'It will be determined when we know how much revenue is coming in Egyptian pounds and how much in dollars,' said Awad. Al-Hokair has the option taking the entire portion in dollars, he added.
The dollar portion will be priced at between 1.0 and 2.5 percent above the London interbank offered rate (Libor) and the Egyptian pound portion at between 1.5 and 3.5 percent above the Central Bank of Egypt corridor rate, Awad added.
The mall's built-up area will occupy 260,000 square metres of the mall, with 176,000 square metres allocated for leasing, the CIB statement said.
With revenues of 5 billion Saudi riyals ($1.33 billion) in 2007/08, Hokair is the biggest shopping shopping center operator in Saudi Arabia, the statement added.
In addition to CIB, the lending banks are Banque du Caire, Export Development Bank of Egypt, Egyptian Arab Land Bank, the Housing and Development Bank, Bank of Alexandria and the Arab Investment Bank.
(Writing by Patrick Werr, editing by Martin Golan) Keywords: EGYPT ALHOKAIR (patrick.werr@thomsonreuters.com; +20 2 2578 3290/1) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.