Abu Dhabi National Energy Company ( Taqa ) has refinanced its US$3.5 billion revolving credit facility with a syndicate of 20 banks.

The five-year loan will replace an existing US$3.5 billion facility signed in 2019. The syndication attracted strong interest, and was 1.7x oversubscribed.

The bookrunners, initial mandated lead arrangers and global coordinators of the facility were First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC ( FAB ), Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers were Agricultural Bank of China, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Emirates NBD, HSBC, Mashreq Bank PSC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Mandated lead arrangers were China Construction Bank, NBK Group, Intesa Sanpaolo, JPMorgan Chase, Scotiabank and Natixis. SMBC also acted as the documentation bank with FAB as facility agent.

The refinancing allows Taqa to extend the final maturity of the facility from 2024 to 2027, while benefiting from competitive pricing, says Taqa’s chief financial officer Steve Ridlington. It is priced against the new Sofr benchmark for US dollar-based floating rate debt.

Taqa is one of the largest listed integrated utilities companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In mid-September the company sucessfully completed a US$1.09 billion refinancing of its Mirfa Independent Water & Power Plant ( Mirfa IWPP ). The proceeds from the new long-term senior secured loan were used to refinance Taqa’s existing debt facilities, which were signed in 2014 as part of a soft mini-perm structure.

The long-term financing matures in September 2042. Nine international and regional lenders participated in the refinancing. The syndicate of mandated lead arrangers comprised Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Bank of China ( Dubai ) Branch, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, KfW IPEX-Bank GMBH, The Norinchukin Bank, Saudi National Bank, Shinsei Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

Mirfa IWPP is a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant with a modular reverse osmosis plant and three multi-stage flash desalination units. It has a gross installed power capacity of 1.7 gigawatts and 53 million imperial gallons per day ( MIGD ) of gross water desalination capacity. It is 60% owned by Taqa, with Engie and Sojitz owning a 20% stake each.

Mirfa was advised on its refinancing by Allen & Overy, while the lead arrangers were supported by Linklaters and engineering consulting firm WSP.