The UAE-based industrial conglomerate Al-Ghurair Investment has raised an AED1.3bn ($354m) syndicated loan to refinance existing debt obligations as well as raise additional funds.

Local bank Mashreq and the UK’s Standard Chartered were the mandated lead arrangers on the transaction. Several local banks also participated in the deal, including Commercial Bank of Dubai, Emirates NBD, First Gulf Bank and Al-Khaliji Bank.

The loan was oversubscribed but commitments were scaled back before closing. The facility is expected to be funded on 12 March, according to banking sources.

The deal was priced at approximately 300 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor).

The family-owned company has raised the money to refinance a $347m syndicated loan raised in 2009 to finance the expansion of Al-Ghurair City, the mixed-used retail, commercial and residential complex in Deira, Dubai.

The 850,000-square-foot expansion of the complex opened in October 2013 offering an additional 130 new stores. When first opened in the early 1980s, the centre was one of the first mixed-used developments in the Middle East.  

Several other UAE companies are currently in the process of raising syndicated loans this year, with many refinancing existing debt obligations hoping to secure better pricing on the facilities.

Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Steel is one company looking to refinance debt. It is assessing proposals from lenders to raise a $1.3bn refinancing to replace an existing facility that funded the second phase of the upgrade of its Mussafah plant.

The facility has proved popular in the banking market so far and is likely to be oversubscribed, according to banking sources.