RIYADH, 13 December 2007 — Eisa M. Al-Eisa, managing director and CEO of Samba Financial Group, signed an agreement with Abdullah M. Al-Muhanna, CEO of the National Chemical Carrier (NCC), on Monday for a $392 million (SR1,470) million facility to finance 80 percent of the total cost for building 10 new chemical tankers.
Al-Eisa said the accord is considered to be the largest single shipping deal in the history of the local market in terms of amount and number of ships funded by a single bank for a single borrower, “which reflects our confidence in the borrowing company and its credit worthiness.”
Al-Muhanna said the deal “is a continuation of our strong relations with the financial sector in general and Samba Financial Group in particular with which we had several previous transactions.”
“This agreement comes in line with our endeavors to avail of the Shariah-compliant financing schemes and investments to support the company’s current and future expansions. The confidence that is vested in our company by the local and international banks and investment companies signifies the success of our strategy and plans, and help us become a global competitor in shipping of petrochemicals,” he added.
“This deal comes within the framework of our plans to develop and expand the shipping capacity of our fleet, which is composed now of 14 vessels with a total capacity of 554,000 tons. We plan to increase it to 32 ships by 2011 with a total capacity of 1,4 million tons. We have 2 vessels under construction by Hyundai and will be handed over to us early next year. Additionally, 16 new vessels have been contracted recently with SLS of South Korea to be delivered during 2009-2011 to help us meet the demand on our services and boost our role in economy.”
Al-Muhanna further said.
Samba Financial Group is a major supporter of the naval shipment sector in the Kingdom.
“Samba Financial Group proceeds with its prominent role in the local financial and banking industry through its ambitious strategy and global approach in developing its programs as well as its banking and financial products and services. Our facility programs are ranked number one in the local market as evident from our conventional and Shariah-compliant deals, which won many accolades,” Al-Eisa said.