French building materials group Lafarge is close to completing a SR1.125bn ($300m) financing deal for the development of its cement plant in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia.

The deal will be funded by the local Samba and Arab National Bank. There will also be an additional loan from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF).

A source close to the deal says, “It is not yet finalised, but we expect to be able to close the deal in July.”

So far Lafarge revealed few details about the Saudi plant, but chief executive Bruno Lafont confirmed in January 2009 that the company was working on a project in the western region.

In November 2009 Lafarge completed a $682m project finance deal to fund the development of a cement plant in Syria. The company is also working with UK-based investment firm MerchantBridge on the redevelopment of an existing cement plant in Iraq.