Cairo – Mubasher: Orascom Development Egypt (ODE) signed a medium-term loan agreement worth $265 million to refinance and upsize its outstanding debt.

The seven-year term loan has a grace period of two and half years, the company said in a bourse disclosure on Monday.

An amount of $215 million will be used to finance outstanding balances of the company’s debt to be relieved from upcoming debt commitments.

Moreover, an additional tranche of up to $50 million (in Egyptian pounds) will be available for drawdown over two years to finance future expansion plans, including any planned capital expenditures (capex) for the addition of new rooms and renovation of the group’s hotels.

The Commercial International Bank – Egypt (CIB), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and HSBC acted as mandated lead arrangers and EFG Hermes served as sole financial advisor, lead manager, global coordinator, and bookrunner for the transaction.

CIB also acted as the facility agent on the transaction, while MHR & Partners was the legal counsel for ODE. Helmy, Hamza & Partners acted as legal counsel to the lenders.

During the first nine months of 2020, Orascom Development Egypt logged EGP 357.4 million in net profits, down from EGP 501.2 million in the year-ago period, including minority shareholders’ rights.