Oil services group secures finance for 12 ships

21 August 2008
GMMOS, the regional oil and gas and industrial services group, has secured a $46m Islamic loan to finance the acquisition of 12 new vessels for servicing offshore oil platforms.

The deal is the company’s first Islamic facility, and illustrates a growing trend for businesses to use Islamic leasing structures to purchase expensive equipment. One advantage of such deals is that the debt does not appear on the company’s balance sheet.

In addition to the shipping industry, airlines are also becoming keen on Islamic finance to purchase new planes without having to take the debt onto the company accounts.

Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways have all used Islamic finance structures to purchase planes recently.

The GMMOS deal was arranged by Standard Chartered and Dubai’s Noor Islamic Bank. GMMOS is jointly owned by Abraaj Capital and Waha Capital.

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