The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, also known as Taqa, secured a $3.5 billion (Dh12.85bn) revolving credit facility on favourable terms, the company said on Monday.
The new five-year multi-currency facility from a syndicate of 13 banks will be used for general corporate purposes and replace an existing $3.1bn credit facility, signed in August 2015.
"Taqa's funding exercises continue to be met with strong levels of interest from investors and lenders alike," said Mohammed Al Ahbabi, chief financial officer of Taqa, in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. "Our fifth such facility to date, this has allowed us to keep pricing tight and fund at favourable terms for another five years."
The deal comes as companies take advantage of better borrowing terms from banks in a lower interest rate environment.
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank were the bookrunners, initial mandated lead arrangers and global co-ordinators for the transaction.
The remaining banks in the syndicate include Mashreq Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, MUFG Bank, Bank of China, National Bank of Kuwait, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Scotiabank. FAB also acted as the documentation bank and facility agent.
Established in 2005, Taqa has investments in power generation, water desalination, oil and gas exploration and production, pipelines and gas storage. The company's assets are located in , the UAE, Canada, Ghana, India, Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and United States.
In July, Moody's Investors Service affirmed Taqa's long-term issuer rating and upgraded the state-controlled oil and gas investment company's baseline credit assessment (BCA) on improved operational performance.
The ratings agency affirmed an "A3" long-term issuer rating with a stable outlook, reflecting expectations that Taqa will continue to benefit from state support, Moody's said. It also upgraded Taqa's BCA by a notch to B1 from B2.
"The upgrade of Taqa's BCA reflects Moody's view that the stabilisation of the operating performance of the oil and gas operations, and a gradual reduction in gross debt, have contributed to a slow improvement in the company's consolidated credit metrics," Moody's said.
