Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has approached banks to raise a BD63m ($163m) loan to refinance an existing bond of the same amount that matures at the end of March 2013.

The company, which is one of the top 10 largest aluminium producers in the world, is expecting to receive funding offers from banks soon. The new deal will have a tenor of three years and is being arranged by Alba itself.

Several of the large Bahraini banks are looking at the deal, along with several international banks that already have a relationship with the company. “There is good liquidity in the Bahraini banks at the moment, and some of the foreign banks are looking at this deal as well, so it should be a relatively easy refinance for Alba to get done,” says one banker looking at the deal.

Alba is hoping to get the commitments secured before the end of the year, but the new deal will not be funded until the end of March next year, at the same time the existing bond matures.

In November 2010, the company listed on the Bahrain Bourse and the London Stock Exchange. Profit in the second quarter of 2012 fell to BD35.6m from BD69.7m in the same period of 2011.

Alba did not respond to requests to comment.