RIYADH: Zain Saudi Arabia has been granted a SR2.25- billion ($600 million) multicurrency joint commercial loan for a period of two years. The loan was given to the company by a consortium of banks, led by the Arab National Bank (ANB). Other banks involved in the financing deal include Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Gulf Commercial Bank (GCB) and Gulf International Bank (GIB). The loan is for Zain to fulfill its previous financial commitments and to increase the value of an existing loan of $585 million. Commenting on this step, Ivan Hopkins, Head of the Projects and Structuring Financing Unit at ANB, said that despite the difficult in regional market circumstances, this financing has been well-received by banks and financial institutions in the region. Hopkins thanked Zain Saudi Arabia and the participant banks for their hard work in achieving this successful financing. Zain Saudi Arabia is a major player in the Kingdom's dynamic and fast-growing mobile telecommunications market. Zain provides voice, SMS, MMS, conference calls and information services. Its network covers 95 percent of the Kingdom and it has a client base of 8.3 million as at the end of 2010. It is part of Zain Group, one of the biggest mobile telecommunications companies in the region, which operates in eight markets in the Middle East.
