Barwa Bank, based out of Qatar, has been appointed as the sole book runner to arrange financing of more than QR3.65 billion ($1 billion) for a joint venture that won a bid for the country's metro project from Qatar Rail.

The Alysj joint venture, which won the deal for Gold line Underground package, consists of Aktor of Greece, Larsen and Toubro of India, Yapi Merkezi Insaat Ve Sanayi of Turkey, Sezai Turkes Feyzi Akkaya Marine Construction (STFA) of Turkey and Al Jaber Engineering of Qatar.

Barwa Bank, First Gulf Bank of Abu Dhabi and Qatar International Islamic Bank were MLAs (mandated lead arrangers) on the transaction.  The facilities include guarantees and working capital financing for the Gold Line Metro rail project.  Simmons & Simmons Qatar Branch represented the banks as legal counsel. Exarchou & Rosenberg International Law firm represented the joint venture as legal counsel.

Andreas Tauschinger, Alysj JV project director, said: “We are very proud to have been given the opportunity to play an important role in the development of the State of Qatar.  The JV members bring in international and local expertise to this landmark project.  We are happy to work with the financial institutions on the transactions and thank the lead bank, Barwa Bank, for their efforts in ensuring a successful transaction.”

Khalid Mahdi Al Ahbabi, executive general manager and chief business officer of Barwa Bank, said: “The Gold Line Metro syndicated financing is another credential that supports Barwa Bank’s status as a leading franchise in Islamic capital financing products and we thank Alysj JV for the trust they have placed in us.”

The Gold Line Metro is the largest of the Qatar Rail Underground projects and an integral part of Qatar’s vision 2030. The project starts from the south east of Airport City North and continues westwards to Villagio. – TradeArabia News Service