LONDON // The Abu Dhabi Government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company has launched a US$3.5 billion (Dh12.9bn) syndicated loan to support recent acquisitions, according to two banking sources close to the deal. The loan is split between a one-year bridge loan, "loan A," which will be refinanced by bond issues, and a two-year "facility B" loan that is extendable for a further year at the lenders' discretion, the sources said. The margin on loan A is 250 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor) for the first six months, rising to 350 bps for the next three months and 400 bps thereafter. The margin on the B loan is 350 bps, the sources said. A limited number of banks are being invited to join the deal as initial mandated lead arrangers. -- Reuters
MARRAKESH // The UAE is not diversifying its foreign currency reserves away from the dollar, and its real estate problems have been exaggerated, the Central Bank Governor said on Friday. "We are sticking to the dollar," Sultan Nasser al Suweidi said on the sidelines of a conference here. Asked about problems in the real estate sector in the Emirates, he said: "There are reports exaggerating the problems of the sector, but we are OK." Mr al Suweidi added: "We are not worried about deflation. The United Arab Emirates' economy is very competitive." -- Reuters
SINGAPORE // Chartered Semiconductor, a Singapore contract chip maker, denied a newspaper report that Abu Dhabi's Advance Technology Investment Co (ATIC) had bid for the majority stake in the firm held by the Singapore state investment agency Temaek. Singapore's Business Times reported on Friday that ATIC, Abu Dhabi's state-owned venture capital firm, made an offer to buy Temasek's near 60 per cent stake in Chartered - valuing the microchip maker at US$1.7 billion (Dh6.2bn), 21 per cent above the firm's market value on Thursday. The Abu Dhabi investment firm, which analysts say has plans to become a major investor in technology, agreed in March to pay $2.1bn for 55.6 per cent of a joint venture with Advanced Micro Devices. "Chartered wishes to clarify that it has not received such a bid from ATIC," Chartered said in a statement after it briefly suspended shares that day. - Reuters
