Earlier this year a Joint Venture Consisting of Aktor S.A. of Greece, Larsen and Toubro Ltd of India, Yapi Merkezi Insaat Ve Sanayi A.S of Turkey, Sezai Turkes Feyzi Akkaya Marine Construction (STFA) of Turkey and Al Jaber Engineering of Qatar, won their bid for the Gold Line Underground Doha Metro project from Qatar Rail. Barwa Bank, was appointed as the sole book runner to arrange the financing for the Joint Venture.
Barwa Bank, First Gulf Bank of Abu Dhabi and Qatar International Islamic Bank were MLAs on the transaction. The financing was for over QAR 3.65 Billion (over $1Billion) and the facilities include guarantees and working capital financing for the Gold Line Metro rail project. Simmons & Simmons Qatar Branch represented the banks as legal counsel. Exarchou & Rosenberg International Law firm represented the Joint Venture as legal counsel.
Andreas Tauschinger, ALYSJ JV Project Director commented: “We are very proud to have been given the opportunity to play an important role in the development of the State of Qatar. The JV members bring in International and Local expertise to this landmark project. We are happy to work with the financial institutions on the transactions and thank the lead bank, Barwa Bank, for their efforts in ensuring a successful transaction”.
Khalid Mahdi Al-Ahbabi, Executive General Manager and Chief Business Officer of Barwa Bank said: “The Gold Line Metro syndicated financing is another credential that supports Barwa Bank’s status as a leading franchise in Islamic capital financing products and we thank ALYSJ JV for the trust they have placed in us”.
The Gold Line Metro is the largest of the Qatar Rail Underground projects and an integral part of Qatar’s vision 2030. The project starts from South East of Airport City North and continues westwards to Villagio.
Barwa Bank is a Shari’ah-compliant bank in the State of Qatar, established in Doha and licensed and regulated by the Qatar Central Bank. With total equity of QAR 6.4 Billion, Barwa Bank provides a full range of Shari’ah-compliant banking services including retail, corporate and commercial banking, private banking, real estate finance, structured finance, investments and asset management.
Source : Qatar News Agency
