Jumeirah Group LLC?is raising $1.4 billion in a six-year loan as the operator of Dubai?s iconic sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel takes advantage of a drop in borrowing costs, two bankers familiar with the plan said.
State-owned Jumeirah will pay 2.75 percentage points above the London interbank offered rate for the loan, according to the bankers, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Lenders have been given four weeks to respond with commitments to the facility, they said.
Investor appetite for Dubai assets has improved as state-linked companies paid or refinanced about $4.65 billion of debt since the start of 2012. Dubai?s five-year credit default swaps, which measure the cost of insuring the emirate?s debt, have tumbled almost 50 percent in the past 12 months.
Chief Executive Officer Gerald Lawless said earlier this month the company will start building a 430-room hotel in Dubai. The owner and operator of hotels from China to the U.K. hired Standard Chartered Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC to arrange the loan, MEED reported yesterday.
Jumeirah?s public relations department didn?t immediately respond to an e-mail and a phone call.
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Source: Samuel Potter (2013). Jumeirah sees opportunity to expand, seeks $1.4 billion loan, Bloomberg?http://skift.com/2013/05/28/jumeirah-said-to-raise-1-4-billion-loan-as-dubais-costs-drop/ published May 28, 2013. Viewed May 29, 2013,