News: RIO Oman’s Sohar Aluminium to meet banks to discuss financing -sources

Oman's Sohar Aluminium will meet banks this week in London to discuss potential financing options, four sources familiar with the matter said.

Jointly owned by Rio Tinto RIO.L (RIO) , Oman Oil Company and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) TAQA.AD , Sohar Aluminium was formed in 2004 to build an aluminium smelter in Oman which now has an annual production capacity of 375,000 tonnes.

The project was partly financed through a syndicated loan of around $1.5 billion in 2006 which matures in 2021.

That facility was arranged by ABN Amro and Citi as bookrunners, and saw the participation of a large group of Omani, regional and international banks, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Sohar Aluminium, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is now looking at options that might include a refinancing of part of that deal, said two of the sources.

It is considering both loans and bond issues, one of the sources said.

A potential deal would add to a thin pipeline of expected debt transactions in the Gulf, as a recent surge in oil prices has led to higher liquidity in the banking system but, at the same time, to a slow down in credit demand.

In Oman, another expected deal is by state-owned Electricity Holding Co., which is seeking debt financing for a $1.2 billon capital expenditure programme, sources told Reuters in May.