ADQ closed its first syndicated loan sourced from over 30 lenders from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, according to a press release. The USD 5 bn, five-year facility drew USD 12 bn in orders, making it 3x oversubscribed, and pushing the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund to up the size of the funding from an initial target of USD 4 bn.

The facility is the largest term loan ever raised by a Middle Eastern borrower from Asian lenders, and gives ADQ additional legroom to deploy capital to “commercially attractive investments,” it said.

Who’s involved? Chinese lenders took the lion’s share, as reported earlier in October — the Agricultural Bank of China (DIFC branch) and ICBC (DIFC branch) each put in USD 420 mn, while Bank of China (Dubai branch) followed with USD 370 mn.

That’s a big loan

ADQ is a frequent borrower, regularly benefiting from its AA rating to lock in extra funding for future acquisitions and investments. It raised USD 2 bn earlier this year in an issuance that also drew strong demand and locked in favorable terms.

This is its largest loan yet, to our knowledge. It secured USD 4.5 bn in financing before in 2021, and has separately closed several bond issuances over the past few years.

Asian investors can’t get enough of Gulf players

Asian investors have been ramping up allocations to GCC debt as uncertainty in the US and China drives capital toward higher-quality EM credit. Middle Eastern borrowers raised USD 16 bn in syndicated loans from Asia-Pacific lenders as of early December, more than triple last year’s total.

The shift was on full display this week, with Adnoc and Mashreq both lining up hefty Asian-backed financing, as issuers increasingly look east to broaden funding bases and secure long-dated capital.

ADVISORS- Bank of China (Dubai branch), DBS Bank, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Dubai branch), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), and JPMorgan Securities arranged the transaction.

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