Aabar Investments, which owns stakes in the car maker Daimler and the space tourism venture Virgin Galactic, has obtained US$800 million (Dh2.93 billion) of new debt. The new club loan with local and international lenders will be used for "general corporate purposes" and will be paid back in three years, the company said yesterday. Aabar had Dh15bn of borrowings as of December last year, with $1.62bn maturing this month, according to Reuters data.
Last month, it said it would issue convertible bonds worth Dh7.346bn to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which holds a 71 per cent stake in Aabar. Aabar has built up its investments in recent years, buying land in Abu Dhabi, financing industrial projects in North Africa and taking stakes in high-profile companies such as the Brawn GP Formula One racing team. The company reported a Dh1.57bn profit for the first quarter on gains from derivatives and currency transactions.
"Aabar remains confident of its strategy to focus on its chosen investments sectors and to continue to focus on creating value for all its shareholders," said Mohammed Hamad al Mehairi, an Aabar board member, at the time. "It also aims to build partnerships and create synergies for the long term among the various members of the Aabar group." Aabar also restated its earnings for the first quarter of last year after "management identified errors in the classification of an investment, arising from the misinterpretation of fundamental facts", statements from the company show. This resulted in its Dh177m profit now being booked as a Dh1.22bn loss.
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, known as Taqa, said yesterday it had completed the refinancing of a C$1.32bn (Dh4.56bn) revolving credit facility. Its new facility has a three-year term and is funded by a syndicate of eight Canadian banks, Taqa said in a statement. The company will initially withdraw C$875m from the facility. Taqa has said it was planning to sell non-core assets from its Canadian subsidiary, Taqa North, and use the cash for other parts of its regional business.
bhope@thenational.ae
