UAE contractor Drake & Scull is due to complete a $70m loan on 7 February, according to bankers close to the deal.

The loan has a tenor of three years and pays a margin of 325 basis points above the London interbank offered rate (Libor). It will be dollar denominated, with no local currency tranche.

Sources close to the deal say the syndication process has gone well. France’s BNP Paribas is bookrunner on the loan and launched the syndication in mid-January. “The pricing is attractive enough to get a decent bank group together, but the lack of local currency will affect appetite from some of the UAE banks,” says one Dubai-based banker.

Drake & Scull said the loan will be used to finance acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. During 2010, Drake & Skull completed the acquisition of a 65 per cent stake in Drake & Scull International Saudi for AED243m ($66m).

In the first nine months of 2010, the company reported a profit of AED120m, compared to a profit of AED214m in the same period of 2009.