Officials of the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) and Al Rajhi Bank pose for a photograph after the signing of closed a five-year SR1billion ($267 million) bilateral Shari'ah-compliant facility aimed at retaining and increasing APICORP's medium-term funding. — Courtesy photo DAMMAM — Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), the multilateral development bank of the 10 member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), has closed a five-year SR1 billion ($267 million) bilateral Shari'ah-compliant facility with Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia's leading Islamic bank on competitive market terms. The deal was led by the Financial Institutions Team of Al Rajhi Bank. The facility is aimed at retaining and increasing APICORP's medium-term funding. Al Rajhi Bank was the sole Murabaha Facility Arranger, Lender and Agent. “We are very delighted with our long association with Al Rajhi Bank, the strongest and largest islamic financial institutions in the region, which has actively supported and participated in APICORP's recent major Islamic fund raising deals," said Ahmad Bin Hamad Al Nuaimi, Chief Executive and General Manager of APICORP. "This loan reiterates APICORP's track record as a benchmark institution to deal with among the banking community and endorses Al Rajhi's commitment to APICORP's mission in financing oil-related infrastructural development needs of the kingdom and the region.” Suliman Bin Abdulaziz Azzabin, Chief Executive Officer of Al Rajhi Bank, welcomed the successful closing of the Murabaha Financing deal. “We are immensely proud once again to be part of APICORP's fund raising program and the transaction demonstrates the strengthening ties between two premier institutions in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “We look forward to working more closely with APICORP as they execute their growth strategy in coming years.” APICORP is a multilateral bank headquartered in Al-Khobar/Dammam in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, to foster the development of the Arab world's oil and gas industries. The organization was created under the terms of an agreement signed by the 10 member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) in September 1974. APICORP enjoys a foreign currency issuer rating of Aa3 for long-term debt and Prime-1 for its short-term debt with stable outlook from Moody's Investors Service. Established in 1987, Al Rajhi Bank is the largest retail bank in KSA and the largest Islamic Bank in the world with total assets of SR279 billion ($74.4 billion) and total shareholders' equity of SR38.4 billion ($10.2 billion) at end of 31 December, 2013. Al Rajhi Bank has wide worldwide presence with a branch network of 500 branches within the Kingdom and 28 globally in addition to a sophisticated network of 3,644 automated teller machines (ATMs). — SG
