ENOC subsidiary's financing wins PFI's 'Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Deal of the Year' award

HSTPL, a joint venture established by Horizon Terminal Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of ENOC), Independent Petroleum Group, Kuwait, SK Energy Asia Pte Ltd, (wholly owned by SK Corp), Martank BV (wholly owned by Vitol Holding BV) and Boreh International FZE is constructing a SGD 343 million (USD 207 million) terminal at Singapore's Banyan Basin, Jurong Island.

The SGD 240 million (USD 145 million) loan for HSTPL was provided by a consortium of 12 banks led by HSBC Singapore, the mandated sole lead arranger, underwriter and book runner. ENOC Group Finance coordinated the financing on behalf of HSTPL and the shareholders. The syndication managed by HSBC achieved a rare 100 per cent participation rate and an oversubscription of three times reflecting the industry's good perception of the project, shareholders and most of all ENOC, as the financing was well structured with ENOC in all facets of the whole deal.

The financing won the award for its unique structuring which allowed rare limited recourse project financing with close to corporate style pricing in an Aaa/AAA country such as Singapore. The financing structure incorporated flexibility in shareholder changes and the financial closure of the project was achieved within a very short time frame after syndication invites were sent out to the banks.

Hussain Sultan, Group Chief Executive and Board Member, ENOC and HSTPL Chairman said;

"We are very pleased with the way this transaction was handled and see the oversubscription on the syndication and participation of all invitee banks as evidence of the strong confidence the international banking market has in this project and the sponsors."

"We see Singapore and the rest of South Asia as an area of strategic importance and are proud to have embarked on this project along with our partners," concluded Sultan.

Horizon Terminal Limited (HTL) is an existing terminal operator in the Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia and Djibouti) and aims to build up a significant regional presence in the terminalling industry within 3-5 years and a global presence within 5-7 years. In line with its expansion strategy, HTL has identified the Far East as one of the future areas of growth. The Project in Singapore will be HTL's platform for future growth into China and other countries in the Far East.

PFI published by Thomson group is a weekly magazine on developments and happening in the project finance industry and is widely acknowledged globally as the leading publication within project finance. An award from PFI is the most prestigious award by the participants in the project finance industry.