JEDDAH, 18 December 2006 — Saudi Cable Company (SCC) has won a contract valued at SR300 million for supply of high voltage cables (220 kV) to the Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) as part of the Qatar Power Transmission System Expansion Phase VII, according to Dr. Waheeb A. Linjawi, group president and managing director of SCC. This is in addition to the SR100 million contracts announced recently with Bin Ladin Bemco and SR460 million with KAHRAMAA, whereby the total amount of contracts won by the company in Qatar during the course of a month’s time comes to SR860 million. The award of these large-scale projects to SCC is indicative of the profound confidence the Qatar authorities have in the company as a leading player in the manufacture and export of high voltage cables.
Mobily Completes Major Highway
RIYADH, 18 December 2006 — Mobily has completed one of the major highways in the Kingdom’s northern part which has not been covered by GSM before. Drivers or residents near Hail-Alula highway (240 km) can now be connected to their mobiles through Mobily network alone. “All villages on this highway are also covered,” Mobily said yesterday. Earlier, Mobily announced the completion of the first and second phases of its independent network expansion in the Kingdom, and started the third phase — set for completion by the end of this year — on the network expansion which aims to cover the villages, suburban areas and roads between villages that have not been covered by its independent network. Mobily has completed the coverage of all the main cities in the Kingdom in the past two years, in addition to hundreds of villages and number of highways connecting major cities all over the Kingdom.
STC Launches New Yellow Pages
RIYADH, 18 December 2006 — Saudi Telecom Company (STC) President Saud Al-Duwaish presided over the launching last week of the second issue of Yellow Pages at its headquarters here. STC plans to distribute 2.5 million copies of the more than 100-page English and Arabic directory to individual and business subscribers. Since 2005, the company has distributed 4.5 million copies of the directory and it is expected to reach 9 million in 2009 — including 5 million printed and 4 million soft copies. The current edition contains more than 2 million names of Alhatif customer and some 140,000 commercial establishments, schools and banks listed under 1,700 groups. It includes 1,561 toll-free telephone numbers and 866 unified service telephone numbers. (Mohammed Rasooldeen)
Human Element Is Key to SABB Success
RIYADH — Human element is the foundation of SABB success in terms of their social mission and development of Saudi cadres, Adel Marzook Al-Nasser, the bank’s deputy managing director, said recently at a get-together hosted by SABB for its premium customers throughout the Kingdom. Al-Nasser recounted how SABB volunteer staff donated Eid gift packs consisting of food, consumer products, clothing and other items to needy families and school bags to orphans. The bank also have sent to UK a large number of male and female graduates on scholarships to obtain MBA degrees, he said, adding that a program has been set up to groom 2,500 trainees for a career in the banking industry. Regarding financial and operational achievements, Al-Nasser said the most important achievement is the growth in profits by 31 percent last year to around SR2.5 billion for the third quarter. During the past year, SABB contributed its share as a principal manager and underwriter of a number of successful initial public offerings (IPOs), including Emaar Economic City and Aldrees Petroleum and Transportation Services. (Javid Hassan)
Investcorp Closes $500m Loan Facility
BAHRAIN, 18 December 2006 — Investcorp, a global investment group, said yesterday that it has successfully closed a $500 million five-year syndicated revolving loan facility. The syndication comprised 30 banks across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The facility was initially launched at $300 million, but strong interest from new and existing lenders led to significant commitments of over $850 million, resulting in a total facility of $500 million and no general syndication. J.P. Morgan Chase and Dresdner Kleinwort were joint bookrunners. Investcorp’s Chief Operating Officer Gary Long, said: “Banks from across all four continents participated in the financing of this facility reflecting the breadth and depth of the relationships that Investcorp has built over the years and the strong commitment by the banking community to our growing business. The syndicated loan establishes a new source of accessible funding for the balance sheet and will be used to fund underwriting of multiple and concurrent acquisitions.”
