Dubai’s Department of Finance has completed a $800m receivables financing based on income from the Salik road toll.

The deal was completed on 5 July after receiving a strong enough response from banks to be able to reverse flex the lending margin on the deal, where the borrower lowers the interest rate. That meant the margin came down to 325 basis points above the London interbank offered rate (Libor).

The deal was arranged by the US’ Citigroup with Commercial Bank of Dubai, Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank, and featured a conventional and Islamic tranche. Herbert Smith acted as legal counsel to the lenders.

Proceeds from the loan will be used to fund infrastructure projects in Dubai.