Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) and Dow Chemical Co. sent requests to banks for $12.4 billion in financing for Sadara Chemical Co., their $20 billion joint venture, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing two bankers with knowledge of the situation. Aramco and Dow Chemical plan to raise $2.66 billion in bank loans, $1.4 billion from the sale of Islamic bonds, $6.5 billion from export credit agency financing, $1.3 billion from Saudi's Public Investment Fund, and $530 million from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is private. The requests were sent out this week, they said. The banks have until July 23 to express interest, and the financing may be completed by December, they said. Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical have hired Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) and Riyad Bank (RIBL) as financial advisers, they said. Nicole Hayde, a spokeswoman for RBS in Dubai, declined to comment. Riyad Bank's public relations department didn't return calls. Saudi Aramco declined to comment. Rebecca Bentley, a spokeswoman for Midland, Michigan-based Dow, said she couldn't immediately comment. Sadara may begin production in 2015, with 40 percent of its output being exported to Asia and as much as 35 percent to the Middle East and Africa, Dow Chemical Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris said May 3.
