Mubasher: Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) said it secured a commercial loan facility of $1.5 billion to finance line 6 expansion project.

Alba had originally planned to raise between $500 million - $750 million but increased the commercial loan facility size to $1.5 billion due to heavy oversubscription, which resulted in competitive market terms.

The $1.5 billion commercial facility will carry an interest margin of 325 basis point per annum over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

This facility is expected to have a 7-year tenor and the principal amount repayable in eight semi-annual instalments, including a 3-year grace period on principal payments to support the Line 6construction period.

The commercial loan facility will comprise two tranches, which are a US Dollar-denominated senior unsecured conventional term-loan facility of $ 882 million and a US Dollar-denominated senior Shari’ah-compliant facility of $ 618 million.