Oasis Leasing signs USD52.5m credit facility with HSBC led bank consortium

It will be used to provide short to medium term funding for the Abu Dhabi based big ticket leasing company.

Lead Arranger on the transaction is German transportation bank Deutsche VerkehrsBank AG, with Emirates Bank International acting as Co-Arranger and First Gulf Bank and Persia International Bank as Senior Lead Managers.

"This agreement is a significant vote of confidence in Oasis Leasing by a consortium of leading international and regional banks," said Gordon Dixon, CEO, Oasis Leasing.

"It will enable us to refinance debt maturities, associated with three of our leased aircraft, as well as provide some new money which can be used to further grow our asset base."

The deal was signed in Abu Dhabi by Oasis Leasing's Chairman Mohammed Saif Al Mazrouei and by Abdul Jalil Yousuf Darwish, Vice-Chairman, HSBC Bank Middle East.

"We have developed a significant relationship with Oasis International Leasing and we are proud to have acted as lead arranger of their first corporate loan facility," said Darwish

"The fact that the facility has been oversubscribed in general syndication demonstrates the support for this important UAE Offsets company in the local and international finance markets.

"With the flexibility that this facility provides, Oasis Leasing will be able to capitalise on opportunities in the leasing market, for the benefit of both the company and its shareholders," said Darwish.

Today's announcement comes a week after Oasis Leasing unveiled a substantial increase in its Risk Adjusted Lease Book (RALB) - the present value of contracted lease revenues - in 2002.

Year-end figures show that the company added US $53.2 million to the key performance indicator, bringing the total to US $227 million.

In its annual financial report, Oasis Leasing also recorded revenues of US $53.7 million, representing a 24% growth rate over the five years since it first began reporting in 1998.