Olam Agri, the food, feed and fibre operating group of Olam Group VC2 VC2 , has secured US$625 million ($842.1 million) Shariah-compliant financing facility on April 4.
The commodity Murabaha facility, the first Shariah-compliant facility secured by Olam, has a diverse group of global investors including the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Olam Agri subsidiaries Olam Global Agri and Olam Global Agri Treasury are the purchasers of the facility, which has a tenor of three years.
The facility is initially guaranteed by Olam Group and will subsequently transfer to Olam Agri following the planned initial public offering (IPO) and demerger of Olam Agri. Proceeds from the facility will be applied towards general corporate purposes.
N Muthukumar, group CFO of Olam Group and CEO of operations at Olam Agri, says: “This landmark commodity Murabaha financing further diversifies Olam Agri’s funding mix with access to a new investor pool which provides financing on the basis of Shariah principles.”
Emirates NBD Capital Limited and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank are the global Shariah coordinators for the facility.
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Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) are the senior mandated lead arrangers for the facility, while Citibank N.A., Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, HSBC Amanah, Mizuho Bank Ltd, MUFG Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, and Standard Chartered Bank are the mandated lead arrangers.
Emirates Islamic Bank is lead arranger and FAB is the investment agent.
Shares in Olam Group closed 3 cents lower or 2.56% down at $1.14 on April 4.
