Saudi Arabia’s Al-Tuwairqi Group has completed a debt restructuring deal on $1.9bn of bank loans, according to lenders in the kingdom.

The restructuring has been going on since late 2008 and involves a group of 26 banks including the local National Commercial Bank, Al-Rajhi, Samba, and Saudi Hollandi Bank, and National Bank of Kuwait and the UK’s Standard Chartered.

Final documentation for the restructuring has been signed by the various banks throughout May and early June, and a ceremony to mark the completion of the deal will be held on 21 June, say sources in the kingdom.

“This is probably the largest debt restructuring to have been completed so far in Saudi Arabia, so it is a significant achievement,” says one banker in Riyadh.

The UK’s HSBC was appointed adviser to Al-Tuwairiqi in mid-2009. The exact terms of the deal agreed with lenders are unclear, but it is understood the banks are not taking a loss on the principal loans made to the company. One source close to the process says, “all the banks are getting repaid, but they will have to wait”.

The debt restructuring relates to Al-Ittefaq Steel Products Company, part of the Al-Tuwairqi Group, which ran into problems following the collapse in steel prices in 2008 (MEED1:5:09).